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Reveries of A Young Man 


IN 

QUEST OF A WIFE. 







With F'if'ty Original Illustrations. 


PHILADELPHIA : 


SHERMAN & CO., PRINTERS. 

1888. 


Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1886, 

By T. Hood Stevens, 

the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



Dedicated 

To HIM, WHO ALONE UNDERSTOOD MY SPIRIT IN CHILDHOOD 
LIFE, AND TO WHOM I AM INDEBTED FOR THE HIGHER AND 
NOBLER IMPULSES WHICH HAVE SINCE SO HAPPILY GUIDED ME 
IN SEARCH OF TRUTH, AS MANIFESTED IN THE REALMS OF MIND 

AND MATTER THE MORAL AND SPIRIT WORLDS : To MY 

Father, this volume is lovingly inscribed 

By the Author. 






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1 




P R E L U I) E. 


In committing to pa.pertbese Reveries, the author 
had a triple motive : First, to give agreeable occu- 
pation for idle hours ; second, to preserve a record 
of such thoughts as observation, experience, I’eason 
or fancy might suggest, on subjects connected with 
courtship and marriage; third, to awaken thought 
among the multitude of young people, who, like 
himself, were in quest of a wife. 

It requires no philosopher to demonstrate that 
untold evils follow in the wake of hasty unions. 
The writer holds that true happines’s is impossible 
where the higher affinities do not exist ; that mind 
and spirit are not perishable and fleeting like purely 
physical charms; that beauty and youth fade, while 



10 


PRELUDE. 


character — such as high moral and intellectual 
development give to either sex — binds in closer 
unity, with each succeeding year, the wedded pair. 

If man and woman possess that dual nature that 
Aristotle and Aquinas taught in their philosophy, 
one material and the other immaterial, it is not dif- 
ficult to understand that the latter is the primary 
source of all life. If this deduction be rational, it 
follows that the education and discipline of the 
mind and soul principles are paramount duties to 
all others as regards human felicity. 

Thomas holds, the soul is pure form, ethereal and 
immortal ; and Locke says : “ He who will consider 
freely will not be able to reason fixedly against it.’^ 
Science abounds with proofs of change of form, but 
can offer no evidence of total annihilation of the 
fragmentary parts of the unit. If, therefore, the 
present life be preparatory to another, when the 
physical shall give way to the ravages of time, it is 
no waste of talent to show that the more one absorbs 
the essence of the Divine mind, the broader the 
vision and more exalted the conceptions ;is to truth 
and duty. 


PRELUDE. 


11 


With hearts purified, and faith strengthened by 
the beauties and glories which science is continually 
imparting to those who love her courts, the blush- 
ing maid and comely youth can joyfully pursue 
their quest of the treasures nature has in reserve 
for them, if they only allow her to guide them 
through the realms of a higher being. 

F. M. W. 






EPITOME OF CONTENTS. 


Page 

Dedication, 7 

Prelude, 9 


CHAPTER I. 

The Old Family Clock — My Ancestry, . . . 25-31 

CHAPTER II. 

The Whirligig of Life and Fashion — Clara Livingston — One 
Ideal of Beauty, ...... 32-36 


CHAPTER III. 

The Revelations of Nature — Repulsion and Affinity — The 
Law of Equilibrium, ...... 37-41 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Spheres of Physical and Intelligent Life — The Chemistry 
of Human Emotions — The Barometer and Thermometer 
as Guides — An Insect Building its Web, . . 42-47 

CHAPTER V. 

In a Reposive Frame of Mind — Why Should I Seek a Wife? 
— A Lull in the Conflicting Forces — A Discovery that 
would be more Valuable than the Fountain of Perpetual 
Youth — Human Felicity is made Difficult for the Fulfil- 
ment of a Higher End — A Morning on the Hudson and 
among the Catskills 51-55 


( 13 ) 


14 


EPITOME OF CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER VI. 

On .Board “ The White Star ” Steamship Bound for Europe 
— My Uncle’s Bequest and its Conditions — Cyrus Lathrop 
and his Sister, Ada, among the Passengers — My First 
Experience on the Ocean — How Incidents and Accidents 
Change the Currents of One’s Life — The Sources of Good 
and Evil Influences — Inspiration and its Sources, 56-62 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Fluctuations of Nerve and Mind — The Outer World of 
Sea and Sky — How Ada Lathrop Relieved the Monotony 
of the Passing Hours, 63-67 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Impellent and Repellent Forces — An Evening on Deck with 
Bertha Clarke — Getting out of my Orbit — An Invitation 
to Visit Paris — The Mystery Concerning that Ward, 

68-73 

CHAPTER IX. 

A Storm at Sea — How I got Acquainted with Florence Win- 
throp and her Mother — Getting Acquainted with the 
Qualities of Different Timber, .... 74-78 

CHAPTER X. 

My Conceptions of Endless Progression — The Darwin Theory 
— A Belief that is an Index to an Aching Void — Crazy 
Kate — The Compensation of Faith — My Arrival in 
Liverpool, 79-83 


CHAPTER XI. 

A Day at the “ St. George,” in Liverpool — A Happy Meet- 
ing with Miss Josie Forneau and her Brother, Harry, 
from Philadelphia — Another Evidence of Mind Mag- 
netism — The Language of Names, . . . 84-87 


EPITOME OF CONTENTS. 


15 


CHAPTER XII. 

Mental Conceptions are often Fleeting — My Arrival and Re- 
ception by Aunt Mary in London — ^AVife-Hunting a 
Ponderous Undertaking — My Aunt Calls Me "An 
Oddity” — Aunt’s Description of Virginia Creighton, the 
Ward — Reading Uncle’s Will, .... 88-95 

CHAPTER XIII. 

My First Night in Loudon and Remarkable Dream or Vision 
— The Central Luminary Around which One Revolves 
— I grow Impatient to see Virginia, . ". . 96-102 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Sunday in London — Thinking of Clara Livingston and the 
Little Church at Bryn Mawr — Does Thought move on 
Waves? — My Introduction to Gertrude Field — Aunt 
thinks I am “Getting Miss Field Absorbed in the Af- 
finity Doctrine,” . , 103-110 


CHAPTER XV. 

My First Meeting with Virginia Creighton, my Ward — 
Vassar College Selected as the Best Place to have Her 
Educated — Aunt to Visit America in Company with 
Virginia — Virginia’s Wonderful Love of Music, 111-119 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Settling up Aunt’s Estate and Having my Guardianship 
Papers Executed — Visit to Paris Promised To-morrow — 
Apparitions and Superstitions — Almost Persuaded that 
I’ll Win a Prize — Woman’s Power to Dazzle and Allure — 
“ Shall I Dream of Paris and Bertha To-night?” 120-128 


16 


EPITOME OF CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XVII. 

Arrival in Paris, aud my Impressions — Meeting Bertha 
Clarke at “ Hotel de Lafayette ” — Out Driving on the 
Boulevard — One’s Personal Equation — Mind Read- 
ing 129-137 


CHAPTER XVHI. 

Bertha Clarke as Bewitching as Ever — My Crude Ideas in 
Relation to Paris — “ Who knoweth the Interpretation of 
a Thing?” — My Conceptions of Prayer, . . 138-143 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Subjects for a Painter’s Easel — Wife-Hunting a Fine Art — 
My Visit to a Sculpture Gallery in Paris — Classic Fig- 
ures of Mythology — Another Afternoon with Bertha 
Clarke — Introduction to Mr. Mayhew, his Daughter, 
Urania, and Son, Eugene, .... 144-153 

CHAPTER XX. 

My Impressions of the Mayhews — An Evening with the 
Family — Urania aud Mother to Visit America, 154-160 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Remarkable Affinities between Urania and Myself — Is Jeal- 
ousy Inevitably Associated with Love ? — Awaiting Future 
Developments, ...... 161-164 


CHAPTER XXII. 

“Last Words” with Bertha aud Good-by to Paris — My 
Return to Loudon — A Harp near my Window — Open- 
ing my Mail from America — News of Ada Lathrop’s 
Marriage, 165-169 


EPITOME OF CONTENTS. 


17 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

On Board “ The City of London ” and bound for America, in 
Company with Aunt, Virginia, Mrs. Mayhew, and 
Urania — Parting Salutations with those on Shore — A 
Plan that Worked Like a Charm,. . , 170-176 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Urania and Frank Studying Astronomy — Heavenly Planets 
Affecting Human Destiny — Fixed Stars as Central Suns 
of other Worlds — Urania’s and Virginia’s First Night 
on the Ocean, ...... 177-184 


CHAPTER XXV. 

The Mystery as to Urania’s not Being Sea-Sick — Engineer- 
ing Necessary to Demonstrate my Theories — Analyzing 
the Kind and Degrees of Affinity — Eccentric People, 

185-190 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Keeping Company with the IMoonlit Sea — Men are Curious 
Creatures — A Guess and a Prize. — Urania’s Wonderful 
Knowledge of the World of Stars — Virginia’s Puzzling 
Questions, ....... 191-198 


CHAPTER XXVI r. 

Morning Twilight at Sea — The Glory of Girls — Essentials in 
a Wife from Different Standpoints, . . 199-203 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Introduction to Daisy Rosebcrry— Seeking New Principles as 
Guides to a Wife— The Invisible Currents, . 204-208 


18 


EPITOME OF CONTEXTS. 


CHAPTER XXIX. 

Arrival in New York and Meeting Professor Mayhew — Sep- 
arating from Urania and her Mother — “ Home at Last,” 
where a Grand Reception Awaits us — Two Noble Sisters 
— Virginia Leading me out of the Domain of Philosophy 
— My Three Trinity Bells — A Lucky Thing to Have a 
Sister, ........ 209-215 


CHAPTER XXX. 

In my Own Sanctum once More — Opening my Mail — Letter 
from Miss Field, of London — Restless about Leonora 
Claffliu — Another One’s Conception Blunted — Taste an 
Important Factor — Cutting Myself Aloof from Warp- 
ing Influences, ...... 216-222 


CHAPTER XXXI. 

Mrs. Mayhew and Urania as Visitors at my Father’s House 
— Urania’s Impressions of New Haven and some of the 
Yale Students — Finding the Keys to One’s Heart — My 
Difficult Pilgrimage, . . . . . 223-226 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

“A Lovely Time” is to Put it Mildly — Mother’s Idea of the 
Effect of my Foreign Trip — A Morning Drive Through 
Fairmount with Urania — Under a Spell ; Is it Love? — 
Letter from Miss Florence Wiuthrop — Ruffling One’s 
Spirit — Some Girls would call me Unstable, . 227-332 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Supreme Moments in One’s Life — Under the Ban of Con- 
demnation — Knowledge of Another Life in Daisy Rose- 
berry — Pertubations of the Planet Uranus, . 233-237 


EPITOME OF CONTENTS. 


19 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Visit to Professor Mayhew’s at New Haven — New England’s 
Hospitality — Virginia’s Latent Force— People who 

Stamp" their Character on the Age in which They Live 

Analyzing Character to Save Disaster, . . 238-244 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

What an Astrologer Said — An Idea Concerning Urania — 
The Beautiful City of Elms, .... 245-249 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

A Gorgeous Time — Alternating Between Hope and Fear — 
Urania as a Prophetess — Finding a Mate, . 250-255 

CHAPTER XXXVir. 

A Train of Circumstances — Taking a Rosy View of Life — 
Reviewing my Circle of Girls — How Long will a Love- 
Kiss Last, ....... 256-2G0 


CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

Placing Virginia in Vassar College — A Visit to my Quaker 
Friends in Chester Valley — Autumnal Beauties — Clasp- 
ing Hands with Nature — The Diamond Bird, 261-266 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Time as a Lever — A Peculiar Coincidence — A Ray of Sun- 
Light From Those at Home — A Letter from Urania’s 
Father, 267-271 

CHAPTER XL. 

Bridal Offerings — Once More at Home — The Conquest of 
Science, ....... 272-275 




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ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 


CHAPTER I. 

Page 

The Old Family Clock, 27 

The Young Man’s Laboratory, 28 

The Young Man’s Favorite Game, , . . . 29 

CHAPTER II. 

Labor and Society, 33 

Clara Livingston’s Home, ...... 35 

CHAPTER III. 

Testing the Negative and Positive Forces, ... 38 

A Home of Discontent, ...... 40 

CHAPTER IV. 

Drifting with the Current, . . .... 43 

The Web of Flattery, ...... 46 

CHAPTER V. 

In a Reposive Frame of Mind, ... , . 50 

An Evening on the Hudson, ..... 54 

CHAPTER VI. 

Embarking for Europe on the “ White Star,” . . 58 

The Two Influences : Good and Evil, .... 61 

CHAPTER VII. 

Keeping Company with the Birds of the Sea, . . 64 

Ada Lathrop at the Piano, ...... 66 

CHAPTER VIII. 

How a Star suggested Bertha Clarke’s Presence, . . 69 

Bidding Bertha “ Good-Night,” 73 

( 21 ) 


22 


ORIGIiVAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 


CHAPTER IX. 

' Pag 14 

Exchanging Cards with Florence Wiuthrop, . . 76 

CHAPTER X. 

Her Faith made Her Happy, 80 

The “ White Star” entering Liverpool, ... 82 

CHAPTER XL 

Viewing Liverpool by Moonlight, .... 86 

CHAPTER XII. 

Frank’s Arrival at His Aunt’s in Loudon, . . . 89 

Frank Reading the Will, ...... 93 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Was it a Vision or a Dream? 99 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Gertrude Field Added to Frank’s Circle of Girls, . 108 

CHAPTER XV. 

Vassar College, 113 

An Affinity of Thought, 116 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Apparitions: Under a Spell, 123 

“By Jove! One Hour Past Midnight,” . . . 127 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Bertha Writes, “ Father and I await You,” . . 133 

Meeting Bertha in Paris, . . . . . .136 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

On the Boulevard, Paris, . 


140 


ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 


23 


CHAPTER XIX. 

Page 

Fine Arts in Paris : In a Sculpture Gallery, . . 146 

Introduction to the Mayhevvs, ..... 152 

CHAPTER XX. 

Frank at the Home of the Mayhews, .... 158 

CHAPTER XXL 

“Jerusalem! How Shall I Arrange Matters ?” . . 163 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Opening Mail on Return to London, .... 168 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Parting Salutations on Leaving Liverpool, . . . 174 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Frank and Urania Studying Astronomy at Sea, . . 181 

CHAPTER XXV. 

State Room: Frank in a Reverie, .... 188 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Virginia, the Chief Subject of Thought, . . . 194 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

A Morning Twilight at Sea, ..... 201 

CHAPTER XXVIIL 

Frank Examining the Log-Book, .... 206 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The Welcome on Returning from London, . 


212 


24 


ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 


CHAPTER XXX. 

Page 

In My Own Sanctum Once More, .... 219 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Meeting Urania and Mother at Broad Street Station, . 225 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

Frank and Urania’s Morning Drive, .... 229 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

In Company with Daisy Roseberry, .... 235 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Frank Receiving a Suggestion from Urania’s Aunt, . 241 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

Somewhat Perplexed : I Wonder if She will Probe my 

Motive, ........ 247 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

An Eventful Afternoon with Urania, .... 253 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

The Three Letters I Guess will Paralyze the Old Gen- 
tleman, 259 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

The Old Homestead of INIy Quaker Friends, . . 263 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Sister Mamie’s Cheering Words at the Breakfast Table, 269 


CHAPTER XL. 

Frank and Urania’s Reception at their Own Home, . 274 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


IN 

QUEST OF A WIFE. 


CHAPTER I. 

’Tis midnight, and here I am, as oft before, 
watching the oscillations of the pendulum of the 
old family clock as it measures with unerring 
certainty the speed of time. The tick, tick, tick, is 
not a monotonous sound ruffling the spirit, but 
rather more like a friendly monitor, keeping my 
thoughts in time and tune. I look upon its dial 
and note the minute and hour hands move with me- 
chanical precision as they record the dual division 
of each day. This many have done before my 
coming, and many will do after my exit. Still I 
wonder. Not at the old clock’s chroniclings, but 
the ever-welcome companionship that the mantel- 
figure supplies. At her beautiful sameness. Void 
of pulse and heart and brain, her utility and 
fidelity impress me. I look upon her with the 
love of an old-time friend. Her face invites one 

( 25 ) 


3 


26 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


to behold ner ; her hour-bell revives when dull 
and listless. Her mission, indeed, apjoears not un- 
like a thing of life, a sure solace in the hour of 
loneliness. Though she see not, hears not, my 
affection goes out unavoidably towards her. She is 
so full of suggestiveness. Take her away, and you 
have painful reminders she is gone. Yes, I love 
that old clock, not only for her household value, 
but for her awakenings of latent thought. Unlike 
the world, she has but one face and one character. 
Her fidelity has seldom its counterpart among men 
and women in this busy bustling life. 

True, fidelity is not an unknown quality or at- 
tribute, but rather a choice property among the 
many repulsive plants in the world’s nursery, and, 
like gold, more precious, owing to its scarcity. 

No, I am not skeptical, as I gauge myself in my 
measurings of the world. I only size up men and 
women by that almost infallible standard, expe- 
rience. Nor do 1 arrogate unto myself any more 
than a fair share of discernment and general in- 
telligence. I am not even stored with a very large 
amount of experience. This, time may give me. 
As yet, youth is comparatively on my side, for my 
next birthday will register my age as twenty-nine. 

That which I take pride in, is the inheritance 
from my parents of a liberal supply of common sense, 
a sound constitution, and a good manly form. My 
height is five feet ten, and my weight one hundred 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE 


27 



UN1.JKE THE WORE!), 
AND ONE 


SHE HAS RUT ONE FACE 
CHARACTER. 



28 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


and fifty-five. In features and carriage the world 
would call me handsome. My complexion is con- 
sidered ruddy ; hair auburn ; eyes of a hazel 
brown ; disposition somewhat uneven, and alter- 
nating between buoyancy and seriousness, generally 
showing a thoughtful turn. 

My ancestry figure prominently in American his- 
tory, as having taken important parts in the battles 



THE YOTTNG MAN’S EABOKATORY. 


for the preservation of the Union, and in framing of 
laws for its government. My livelier impulses are 
from French stock, my tenacity of purpose from 
the Scotch, my open heartiness from the Irish, my 
deliberation from the German, and, to a degree, 
my limited share of diplomacy from the English. 
Precisely how much of each of these elements 
enter into my composition I never knew. 

And to these endowments, for which I claim no 
credit, my parents gave me the benefit of a liberal 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


29 


collegiate education. To this important equipment 
for life’s battle I have added materially, by such 
study and observation as opportunity has afforded 
me It has been niy aim to achieve, if possible, 
success in life, with all that term signifies. With 
this view, I am already the possessor of some thirty- 
five thousand. 

I give these points that the reader may, in a de- 



THE YUUNG MANS FAVORITE GAME. 


gree, have me photographed on his or her mind. 
Not that I seek notoriety, or desire to unduly force 
my individuality on one’s mind, but in order that 
these reveries may be better understood. 

As true success in life implies happiness, and as 
this cannot be attained by wealth alone, nor by 
education or health as single factors, but only by a 
union of all the elements which minister to the 
physical, mental, moral, and spiritual forces. 


30 


EEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


No, I am not skeptical. I believe in the exist- 
ence of true men and true women. The world, how- 
ever, as I see it, is so honey-combed with hypocrisy 
and sham that it makes one’s heart glad to see these 
rare commodities. Sterling qualities are so excep- 
tional as to enhance their value. This fact is so 
striking to my mind, that I almost think at times 
that the glasses through which I view the world are 
clouded. Why ’tis so, I will not moralize now. 
Everything has its use in the order of economy, 
why not these incongruities in the family of man ? 
Misery or happiness is frequently enhanced by con- 
tact and review of the world’s vagaries. 

Spring is shown more glorious by its following in 
the wake of the snow and hail of a rigid winter. 
Autumn’s beauty is more delightfully impressive 
when it succeeds a sultry summer. I, therefore, 
wonder at times if it cannot be a wise dispensation, 
in the order of Providence, to permit the beauties 
and deformities of nature to exist together, that good, 
by contrast of their respective relations and condi- 
tions, may grow out of them. We are told by the 
Sacred Writer to allow the wheat and tare to grow 
up together ’till the time of harvest. When that 
time comes, and the grain is ready for the sickle, 
the husbandman shall go forth to reap. Then, and 
not till then, shall be separated the wheat from the 
tare. 

This is one picture. Well may the philosopher 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE 


31 


say: “Life is a Problem.” No doubt, if we read 
aright, it is replete with wisdom. We cannot see 
beyond the veil, and even this side of that vision 
becomes obscured. Still, at times, through the fogs 
of doubt and clouds of despondency rays of light 
will occasionally shine, and these give promise of 
better things. 



32 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER II. 

I ASK myself : If “ all the world’s a stage,” what 
part do I take among the actors ? “ If we could see 
ourselves as others see us,” then we might know the 
part we played, whether true or false, 'i’he rise 
and fall of human hopes and fears, we know, con- 
tinually change the scene, and oft the parts we 
play. To-day, ’tis Drama ; ’twas, yesterday. Trag- 
edy ; and, perchance, to-morrow, ’twill be a Farce. 
This is life. As spectator, I note the change of fig- 
ures and shifting scenes. As actor, I help to make 
up the whirligig of life and fashion. Whether pa- 
tron or actor, alike am I the slave of either, resist 
one and you become a votary of the other; and 
custom or fashion’s pressing tide compels you on- 
ward. 

This tide, however, is not always outward in its 
course. Like the ocean, it ebbs and flows, at stated 
periods, according to influence. It has its Spring 
and its flood tide. At one time, we are carried land- 
ward and into safe.harbors ; at another, into an open 
and unknown sea. In which of these am I ? I 
knew my bearings when I started on life’s voyage. 
Do I know them now ? Let me see. The compass 
still points to the North Star. I have found the 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


33 


latitude and longitude of my location. Yes, I am 
again in safe harbor, and among genial friends. 

Some of these are old, others new. How the 
latter will wear, only time can prove. 



LABOR AND SOCIETY. 


Clara, the only daughter of an eminent and 
wealthy merchant, is the leading spirit among this 
late acquisition of friends. She has won her place 
as leader by reason of her remarkable beauty of 


34 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


lace and form, and not less, by her sparkling wit 
and humor. She is of an aggressive nature, pos- 
sessing in a marked degree a faculty of saying the 
right thing at the right time. I readily recognize 
that her education is limited, but her natural tact 
and keen observation fully compensate for this de- 
ficiency. What constitutes her beauty it is diflftcult 
for me to say. Beauty is said to be only a matter 
of taste. This may be so ; but even if we accept 
this as a truism, there must be plausible reasons for 
the conception. Most persons have an ideal of 
beauty, yet this is predicated on what appears, in 
the main, conclusive and satisfactory to each. And 
fortunate is this diversity of conception. Were it 
otherwise, only a fixed type of beauty would win 
the admiration of the world. 

My ideal is pretty well typified in Clara Living- 
stone, from a physical point of view. Her com- 
plexion is brunette ; her eyes large and expressive, 
and hazel in color; her hair dark brown, fine and 
wavy ; her nose and the general contour of her face 
are Grecian ; her mouth is medium in size, and 
mobile in expression ; her ear small, with an easy 
and graceful outline, just relieved from contact with 
a clearly defined side-face. In height she is below 
the medium, only five feet four. In form, full 
without obesity, or making the impression of being 
fleshy; just such a ripe fullness as one hundred 
and twenty pounds would impart to the stature 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


35 


given. I might stop here, yet to do so would leave 
incomplete the outlines of one’s ideal of beauty. 
A foot easily enveloped in a number two shoe, with 
instep of decided arch and grace, is not the least of 
the component parts of this ideal picture. As to 
her age, I am bordering on dangerous ground. It 
may or it may not be an unknown quantity. If 
of a known quantity, would it be the proper thing 
to name it ? Debatable, at least. Suffice it to say. 



CLARA LIVINGSTONE’S HOME. 


somewhere between the figures sixteen and thirty. 
Both of these are composite numbers, and their 
factors are readily found. After eighteen most 
girls forget addition ; and, I am told, it is dan- 
gerous to teach them, if the question to be solved 
relates to age. It is safe for me to only give the 
boundary. From Clara it may provoke a smile; 
it hardly can a frown. 

Now you have my ideal, less voice, disposition, 


36 


REVERIES OF A YODNG MAN 


and principle. How far Clara j^ossessed these to 
my liking will not be given now. Later this may 
be known. One thing sure, in these she was not 
repulsive. 

Don’t, dear reader, for a moment imagine or 
hastily conclude that the ‘‘ young man in quest of 
a wife"' is already as good as won. Far from it. 
Clara has had lavished upon her unstinted admira- 
tion and applause. Her society to me, as with a host 
of friends, is ever welcome. Still, if I correctly in- 
terpret my own feelings, she has not awakened a 
hidden thought, nor kindled a single spark in 
love’s flame. Love is one thing, admiration 
another. The world may be wedded to the latter, 
one heart only can be to the former. What 
awakenings Clara may make in the future is be- 
yond my mental horizon now. 



IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


37 


CHAPTER III. 

I AM not naturally disposed to be philosophical, 
nor am I sure that I am always logical. Yet, 
somehow, as if without volition, my mind turns 
towards the revelations of nature, as to a book 
laden with precious offerings. If I would go as 
the spirit directs, I would take these revelations as 
unerring guides to truth and duty. 

Through the known we discover the unknown. 
Attraction and repulsion are the results of known 
laws, as applied to matter in the material world. 
The apple which dropped to the earth from its 
parent stem unfolded to Newton’s mind the un- 
known law of gravitation, and gave to science a 
light to illumine the world. The union of zinc, 
copper, blue-stone, and water form a magnet whose 
utility is known to the ends of the earth. The 
negative and positive forces, through proper agen- 
cies, have been made large contributors to knowl- 
edge and happiness. 

Am I wandering into unknown realms? No. 
I see the imprints of some who have preceded me. 
These are difficult at times to follow, but I am not 
dismayed. The ulterior object I have in view in- 
spires me. I seek light in the hidden recesses of 


38 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


nature, not as a pastime, but as an aid in winning 
success. If happiness and success be equivalent 
terms — and so I take them — then nature’s labora- 
tory will surely help me on towards the goal of my 



TESTING THE NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE FORCES. 

ambition. You may not see what relation one 
bears to the other. To me it is well defined. 

Here we see revealed the laws of repulsion and 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


39 


affinity. These kindle thought, excite curiosity, 
and give pleasurable anticipation. Sunlight suc- 
ceeds shadows of doubt. I am no alchemist, yet I 
seem to catch a glimpse of the philosopher’s stone. 

I fancy I hear you ask, “ What have all these to 
do in finding a wife?” I answer, they are to me 
as pioneers to that end, through what seemed once 
an impenetrable forest of difficulty. They may 
not prove so. At present faith is pinioned to them. 

Let me pause and consider. If matter is at- 
tracted and repelled, will not the same law hold 
good when applied to mind ? If likes and dislikes 
appear in the mineral kingdom, which is inanimate 
and non-intelligent, do they not also exist in the 
animate vegetable world? Yes; I note that plants 
and flowers are controlled by the same law. Every- 
thing is seeking its own kind, some kindred plant to 
love. Yonder, I see the Sensitive opening and 
closing its petals at the touch of a kindred friend 
or foe. Similars and dissimilars, likes and dislikes 
everywhere. Imperceptibly I am guided to fresh 
revelations, new truths and undiscovered beauties. 

In the realms of Chemistry, as manifested in 
vegetable life, we witness daily evidences of this 
universal law of affinity. Seeds, as they begin to 
germinate, seek succor in those elements which 
most naturally assimilate and furnish food. The 
fibres of roots go downward and outward in search 
of those properties which best supply their needs. 


40 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


The other parts of the embryo plant which require 
light, and the oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen 
gases, direct their courses upward, in direction of 
the sources of supply. This principle is so clearly 



A HOME OF DISCONTENT. 


apparent, that we can only marvel that it remained 
so long in darkness or obscurity. 

The wisdom of the Creator is nowhere more 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


41 


visible than in the world of vegetation. Every 
l)lant is an object-lesson ; every tree, with its heart 
circles, tells its age, and the kind of season it has 
seen. Every flower that gladdens the eye and sheds 
its perfume, supplies instruction, and gives evidence 
of God’s infinite intelligence and boundless good- 
ness to His creatures. 

In the outer and upper world of air and sky ex- 
hibitions of afiinity are manifold. The continual 
seekings for an equilibrium among the elements 
give us refreshing winds. These impart vigor to 
body and limb; they furnish the motive power 
to pleasure yacht and freighted ship, and carry 
from distant spring the crystal stream to mountain 
home. Were I mated, would such buoyant and 
useful currents guide my life ? 



4 


42 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER IV. 

One step higher, and we enter the domain of 
mind, of human pulsations, the spheres of physical 
and intelligent life. New complications may here 
retard our progress. Our characters are more com- 
plex. Similars and dissiniilars, likes and dislikes, 
attraction and repulsion, meet us everywhere, as in 
the other kingdoms. Proof of the laws of affinity 
and their opposites, is even more evident and con- 
vincing than in the lower orders. Our investiga- 
tions are not abridged from want of illustrations. 
In all classes of society, from the lowest to the high- 
est ; among the most illiterate and cultured; in all 
lands and in all climates ; the barbarous and civil- 
ized — all, in greater or less degree, bear testimony 
to the universal law of affinities. In the struggle 
for subsistence, for wealth, or fame, or honor, the 
multitude pause not to consider and investigate the 
laws which inexorably control their destiny for 
weal or woe. Life, like a river ceaseless in its flow, 
sometimes carries us downward and outward to the 
open sea. Its current may move sluggishly, or leap 
impetuously onward. The current of some lives 
moves quietly and majestically, though oft through 
intricate channels. Others have tortuous and treach- 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


43 



they think — to win the prizes awaiting thorn. They 
liave measured not their strength to battle with the 
current. For a while they receive the adulations 


erous currents. The multitude, in their wild ambi- 
tion, make choice of those that are hazardous, like 
the Niagara, and sweep onward, the sooner — as 


DRIFTING WITH THE CUHRENT. 


44 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


of those Oil land, and full of reckless joy, they shout 
their coming triumphs to those on shore. Ere long 
they enter the rapids. Too late, now ! Alarm is 
given, friends rush to their rescue, the life-boat is 
manned and roped to shore. Every muscle is 
strained, the oars do manly duty. Nearer and 
nearer relief appears. Hope one moment, despair 
another, is written on every feature. Too late ! too 
late ! they plunge over the abyss into the yawning 
vortex, to be no more until the sea shall give up 
her dead. Thus thousands each year are wrecked 
on life’s river. Wealth and fame are no account 
then. 

All this gives me no alarm. It rather furnishes 
additional incentives to be guided by the pioneers 
which, thus far, have led me into pleasant fields of 
investigation. I am not disposed to deviate from 
the path that has only cheered me by its light, it^ 
truth and beauty. Serenely I shall pursue my 
journey. Nor shall I make haste. Barriers may 
yet impede my progress, conflicting forces for a 
time baffle me — I shall not be disheartened. No 
prize is worth having unless won through difficulty. 

Sometimes we hear it said : “ Love matches are 
only made in heaven.” No doubt this is often 
idly said, yet I am inclined to believe it the embodi- 
ment of a great truth. If this be so, all others are 
made in Satan’s kingdom. How many pay ransom 
to the latter chief, the tribunals of discord, domestic 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


45 


strifeand divorces bestshow. Hasty unions make long 
repentance. Heaven forbid that I should augment 
the calendar of domestic misery. Better far, make 
no venture on the matrimonial sea. The world gives 
proof ’tis full of whirlpools, storms and wrecking 
rocks. However stanch the craft, she may go 
down. If I ever wed, ’twill only be through safer 
guides and larger lights to steer me. We know 
men and women passthrough a labyrinth of uncer- 
tainties before the marriage knot is tied. This need 
not be. In my case, should I succeed in my quest, 
no uncertain test shall be applied before the union. 
The chemistry of human life, I doubt not, will lend 
a willing hand to its achievement. 

The barometer foretells the coming storm, regis- 
ters the density and rarity of the air which swells 
the sail of yacht or ship. It warns of danger, and 
speaks of better wind and brighter skies. 

The Avorld little notes its value to thousands on 
seemingly shoreless seas. The law of equilibrium 
among the elements gave the mariner this useful 
guide. 

The thermometer, which so accurately measures 
heat and cold, through the law of expansion and 
contraction, is another infallible pioneer of truth 
from the chemistry of nature. 

How nmdi like these indicators which have done 
such signal service to the world, is human nature. 
Every individud combines in his or her composi- 


46 


REVERIES OF A YOUMG MAN 



for the world to read. They are nature’s reflections 
of heart and mind. In this world of dissimulation 
how fortunate that we are furnished with such open 
books! Words too often disguise the thought, mis- 


tion both instruments. If read correctly, the com- 
ing storm or calm is known. If you only look 
aright, the southern heat and northern chills are 
seen. The eye, the hand, the lip become their dials 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


47 


lead the heart. Like a precious jewel, occasionally 
the tongue portrays both heart and mind. It should 
be universally the true representative of either. 
Why ’tis not so, let the world answer. 

I see an insect yonder on the wall. How deftly 
it conveys the slender silk-like strand from nook to 
wall, and wall to nook, and spins and lays its web. 
Well may I ponder, as this tiny creature’s work 
goes on. 

Instinct, you say, th:it guides its way 
Of building house so fine. 

This may be so, for none yet know 
Just what this instinct is. 

Its plan is laid, its carpet made 
So neat, clean and airy. 

No wonder the untvary fly 
Should love to light thereon. 

Yes I There they go, so near their foe 
Kight on the parlor floor. 

Just then I look, and from that nook 
The queenly spider comes. 

One moment more, and all is o’er 
With silly, little fly. 

Flattery here has made its conquest. So the 
world over. Men and women love praise. They 
pay tribute to adulation everywhere. In the marts 
of trade, and the gilded halls of society. 

Flattery weaves, like the spider, her silken web, 
and numbers her victims by the thousand. This is 
the poison which deadens faith. It stifles all true 
growth of heart and mind. That young woman, 
whose early life was so full of rich promises, was 


48 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


wrecked by flattery. This young man, the hope of 
loving sires, is but a remnant of the nobility of his 
early manhood. Thanks to nature’s guides, I have 
steered clear of this dangerous rock. Clara Liv- 
ingstone, likewise, has warded off the dangerous 
shafts, and remains well poised in the dignity of 
lofty virtues. 



IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


49 


CHAPTER V. 

To-night I find my mind in a reposive frame. 
The open grate with its bright and cheery fire 
may have aided to this tranquillity. Seated in the 
old arm-chair, a spirit of contentment, more marked 
than usual, comes over me. The out-door wind, so 
piercing cold, leads one to think of the city’s poor. 
Why should I not be happy now ? Here I have 
a handsomely furnished and substantial home ; 
friends come and go at pleasure, and they are many. 
Good health, ample supplies and an excellent cook 
some might envy. An established business, with a 
yearly income of $5000 — not a few would consider 
a sufficiency of this world’s goods to make one 
happy. Why should it not? I hardly know. My 
spirit is composed, and yet there seems a void — an 
indefinable something to make my serenity complete. 
I pass the idle hours as best I can. I cannot say 
they are unhappy ones. Sometimes I am sure they 
are full of joy. Little things, insignificant though 
they be, at times make or mar one’s happiness. To- 
night, no doubt little things, unknowingly, have 
brought such a delightful calm. How pleasurable 
could this always be! There seems such a halo of 
happiness on everything, that I loath would break 


50 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


the spell. Why should I seek a wife when so joy- 
ous now ? ’Tis not the time to speak of this. When 
trouble comes and the mind is tossed, ’tis then we 



IN A REPOSIVK FRAME OF MIND. 


long for some one to relieve the weight of an op- 
pressed heart. Some one to give a silver lining to 
the darkened cloud. Such a spirit can oft lift the 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


51 


curtain from approaching gloom and make the 
“ ragged edge ” of despondency more endurable. 

There are moments in one’s life when there seems 
to be a lull in the conflicting forces. Periods when 
the inner and outer worlds are in perfect unison. 
At such times flushes of ecstasy electrify the whole 
being. For the instant one’s world appears to be 
arched as with a rainbow of peace and good will. 
These delightful visitations are succeeded by a sort 
of spiritual unfolding of what before were hidden 
harmonies between mind and matter. The features 
imp>erce])tib]y become illumined as with the light 
of another world. Such serene and tranquil 
moments are mine to-night. I know not how they 
came nor what special influences brought them to 
me. Would that I could register the degrees and 
exact conditions of all the elements in these 
moments of ecstatic joy. Were this possible, I 
might be able to furnish infallible panaceas for 
human infirmities. The discovery would be more 
welcome than the fountain of perpetual youth. 

For more than sixty centuries money has been 
the chief object of man’s pursuit. Its possession 
has been considered as equivalent to happiness. If 
we read correctly, the lives of most of those who 
have had the greatest riches do not furnish evidence 
of happiness. Wealth may be one of the means 
to that end. In itself, it is only an aid. True 
happiness few have attained, if I interpret correctly 


52 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


the world. Money as a tangible article should not 
be considered with indifference. If the objects for 
which it is to be appropriated are laudable, its 
acquisition should be commended. As one element 
towards happiness I recognize its value. Other 
elements which are intangible play equally im- 
portant parts in forming the compound. To know 
the exact quality and quantity of both the external 
and internal elements which are essential to pro- 
duce such desirable conditions of mind and body 
as are involved in the word happiness, is a problem 
only partly solved. That science, with the aid of 
nature, will some day, not far in the future, fully 
unfold, I am credulous enough to believe. Active 
brains and zealous hearts, even within the range of 
my short memory, have made wonderful discoveries. 
Why should I not think the millennium of human 
aspirations near at hand? That subtle influence. 
Electricity, is but in its infancy as a factor in human 
development. Magnetism, its homogeneous ally, is 
carrying to greater perfection the transmission of 
the human voice. How far these two elements 
have their duplicates in the lower and higher orders 
of intelligent life, we will see when we enter the 
domain of mind and human emotions. Only 
through investigation have I thus far obtained true 
conceptions of knowledge and duty. Through 
them I hope to dissipate doubt, and be led to 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


53 


proper conceptions of the Infinite mind, as mani- 
fested in the realms of creation. 

Human felicity is made difficult for the fulfillment 
of a higher end. Not that Infinite Intelligence has 
decreed that a major portion of our existence should 
be darkened by discord and turbulence. 

No, I do not believe that the Great Designer 
contemplated, in His construction and peopling of 
worlds, to place impassable barriers to human felicity. 
The proclamation of such a thought would be con- 
trary to myriads of indisputable evidence. Infinite 
love and boundless wisdom are not in consonance 
with such a thought. The immutable principles 
underlying, and upon which are built all stratas in 
the geological, mineral and vegetable kingdoms, I 
believe are to a degree wisely shrouded in mystery. 
And more complex still, when we ascend to the 
domain of mind. 

These things are veiled, I sometimes think, that 
the impression may be made more abiding, when 
through difficulty we get a glimpse of the beauty, 
order and symmetry of the higher life. To show 
that man in grasp of thought, while on a lower 
jdane, is only finite, while God is infinite. To give 
employment to our higher perceptions and senses, 
for discipline and preparation for a more exalted 
state. That through these manifold evidences of 
wisdom and goodness, we may be drawn onward 


54 


REVERIES OF A YOUXG MAN 


and upward to the source of all truth and all 
knowledge. 

I remember standing, one bright and glorious 
summer morning, on one of the lofty promontories 



AN EVENING ON THE HUDSON 


of the Catskill Mountains. My range of vision 
took in the valley of the Hudson, with its majestic 
river and cottage homes. I watched with increasing 
interest exhibitions of life, motion and beauty. 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


55 


Northward and southward yachts and steamers 
wended their way. The broad acres of the distant 
farms seemed as but garden spots on the plane 
below. Stretching vision upward and eastward 1 
plainly discerned mountain cliffs in the old Bay 
State. The outlook was not unlike a panorama of 
sublimest grandeur. All nature seemed in holiday 
attire. Up there, at an altitude of more than three 
thousand feet, plants and flowers sent forth delight- 
ful aromas. The picture was one of regal splendor. 
I then and there asked myself what are all these 
for ? The response came, they are a part of Divine 
Intelligence made manifest to man, that through 
them he may be awakened to higher conceptions of 
universal love. 



56 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTEE VI. 

To-day I find myself on board the “ White 
Star ” steamship, bound for Europe. My mission 
is to aid in the settlement of the estate of a deceased 
uncle, Charles Melville, who, having made a will, 
remembered me to the amount of £5000. Dying 
without issue, his wife and I are made the only 
legatees. So much at present I learn from a letter 
recently received from Aunt Mary, his widow. 
The conditions of the bequest to me I do not fully 
understand, but draw the impression from Aunt’s 
letter that they have reference to my care and kindly 
consideration of a Ward, now a young woman in her 
sixteenth year. Whether to accept the legacy with 
the stipulated conditions, or decline it, is my present 
incentive for crossing the Atlantic. 

I find among the passengers agreeable company 
in the persons of Cyrus Lathrop and his accom- 
plished sister, Ada. The former I have known for 
the past two years through business dealings with 
the firm of which he is a junior member. The 
latter I had met but once before, though I had 
known of her much longer from friends who were 
active in society circles. They are going to Paris 
on a trip mainly for pleasure and instruction ; I to 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


57 


London on what might be considered business. 
Among the other cabin passengers are a number of 
New York and Eastern people. One from Boston 
attracts my attention in a special degree, and 
whose name I learn is Bertha, an only daughter of 
Adam Clarke, a wealthy banker. 

This being my first voyage, all around and about 
me appear strange and impressive. The day seems 
auspicious, a clear and cloudless sky, favorable 
winds, and a temperature just cold enough to in- 
vigorate and make one feel light-hearted. 

How different the real from the imaginary. One 
reads of the ocean, or sees on canvas this vast 
volume of water, yet he but faintly realizes till 
out in open sea what it is. Eastward it seems 
shoreless, and whither our vessel, like a thing of 
life, jioints her course. Westward, I watch the 
gradually receding shores of Long Island and my 
native land. I think of the many friends left be- 
hind, and of some loved ones in the goodly city of 
Quakers. To all I could not say “good-bye;’’ 
still I found time, ere my departure, to receive the 
words “a safe and pleasant voyage” from Clara, at 
the gate of her beautiful cottage home. 

Little we know what a day may bring forth. 
How foreign to my thoughts a week ago, that I to- 
day would be on this mission. 

Incidents, accidents and trivial circumstances I 
know have changed the currents of other lives. 


58 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


may not this bequest and the train of inci- 
dents connected with it change mine ? Had it not 
been for the civil war would we have known of 
many now illustrious in American history ? 
Questionable at least. And yet, what prince or 



EMBARKING FOR EUROPE ON THE “WHITE STAR.” 


king received such honors and homage in all parts 
of the world as did the hero of Appomatox ? The 
opportunities came, and they met them. Truly 
“there is a tide in tlie affairs of men which taken 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


59 


at the flood leads on to fortune ; omitted, all the 
rest of life is bound in shallows and miseries.” 

Am I on the flood tide ? The future only can 
give response. I cannot say that I believe in fore- 
ordination. I am, however, free to confess that the 
world supplies many evidences of what looks like 
predestination. There are, no doubt, hidden causes 
for many of these illustrations, which, if under- 
stood, would make clear and natural the order of 
events in such lives as appear phenomenal. For 
me to accept foreordination as an infallible law, 
would be to deny free agency of will and action. 
Individuality of thought and motion seems more 
calculated to fix responsibility. To believe “ what- 
ever is, was to be,” whether we willed it so or not, 
is to ignore the idea of reward and punishment, as 
sequences of human actions. 

The grandest and noblest achievements of men 
and women are too often the results of personal and 
individual decision and self-sacrifice to entertain 
this thought. That all good motives have behind 
them Divine influences, I doubt not. That all bad 
actions are inspired by evil spirits I little question. 
We know the triumph of either bring their train 
of happiness or misery. Theologians tell us that 
“ there is a continual war between the flesh and the 
spirit.” My own experience and observation, how- 
ever, lead me to conclude that the contending forces 
are in the main not carnal, but spiritual only. 


60 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


Precisely what the terra spirit implies may be to 
some minds vague or shadowy. My conception 
embraces the idea of vital imperishable elements, 
immaterial and all-pervading. They may be im- 
ponderable and impersonal. Whether this be so or 
not, is of small import. The fact that there are 
such agencies for promoting good, or augmenting 
evil in the world, is demonstrated in every sphere 
occupied by the human race. That these influences 
are chiefly from the external world, acting with 
untiring zeal upon the inner life, is evidenced in a 
thousand forms. Human history, from the re- 
motest period of time down to the present, attest the 
ceaseless operations of spirits upon the mind and 
heart of man. In his individual or collective 
capacity, such influences dominate for weal or woe. 
While I concede the existence of such influences, 
I, at the same time, am firmly established in my 
conviction that man, as a free agent, through Di- 
vine co-operation, possesses the power of utilizing 
these instrumentalities for his mental, moral and 
spiritual upbuilding. What we term inspiration 
comes like a flood of light from this source. In 
his “Pilgrim’s Progress,” Bunyan, while im- 
prisoned, made himself immortal through these 
agencies. Shakespeare’s most wonderful concep- 
tions were drawn from the constellations in this 
world of activities. Homer’s Iliad is largely in- 
debted to the scintillations from other minds in this 


61 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE, 


THE TWO INFLUENCES: 


GOOD AND EVIL. 



iiitiir 


62 


KEV'ERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


arena. Socrates was enabled to disseminate through 
Plato, the highest type of human philosophy in his 
“Immortality of the Human Soul,” by calling to 
his aid the noblest influences in this realm of spirit- 
ual force. And Christ Himself, personified in his 
own person the embodiment of untold numbers of 
such agencies. 

These thoughts and soliloquizings should not 
hastily lead the reader to denominate me a spirit- 
ualist. In the sense the world defines the term, I 
cannot be included. If you concur with me in my 
conceptions of the universal law of attraction and 
repulsion, as the essence of spiritual force, when 
applied to mind and emotion, we cannot widely 
differ as to the degree of my belief in this direction. 
One thing sure, I am non -sectarian. I believe in the 
universal brotherhood of man ; in righteousness, if 
not in religion as seen in the daily walks of life ; in 
the universal fatherhood of God ; in no patent 
EIGHT OF WAY to the final abode of man. I believe 
in freedom of thought. I would not arrogate unto 
myself the power to fetter the hopes and longings 
of the many, for the benefit of the privileged few. 
Like the sun and stars, I would dispense light and 
life alike to all, and make free and boundless as the 
air we breathe, to the peasant and peer alike, the 
beauties, opportunities and bounties of the world. 
Could I decree, universal knowlege and universal 
love would clasp hands on life’s pilgrimage. 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


63 


CHAPTER VI 1. 

Tis now the afternoon of the fourth day since 
we hoisted anchor. I am in mid-ocean. What a 
restorer sleep is ! As I come again on deck how 
invigorated I feel ! My senses are again alive to 
the unending pulsations of the mighty deep. I 
have experienced thus far none of those qualmish 
sensations which generally beset ocean travelers. 
Many about me are not so fortunate. The same 
causes do not always produce the same effects. 
Different organisms and temperaments. What one 
repels another absorbs. The human system is of 
such a complex character that it requires rare 
judgment to wisely control its operations. The 
Weather Bureau at Washington in the main gives 
safe predictions as to changes, but is not infallible. 
When we begin to note the fluctuation of nerve and 
mind, the operations occasionally are not unlike a 
circulating decimal. Sometimes they move in short, 
at other, in long periods. The approximate value 
may be known in the first few groups, the ultimate 
and exact may be never known. This may seem a 
deviation. Perhaps it is. There are so many 
inviting courses which lead one in search of truth 
that I no doubt sometimes get astray. Cross-roads 


64 


REVERIES OP A YOUNG MAN 


and finger-boards surely perplex the traveler, and 
why not other seemingly signal lights occasionally 
tlii’ow me off my guard ? 

If I cast my eye downward, I see naught but 
an ocean of deepest blue. If I look outward, the 



horizon checks my vision across the swellings of 
ten thousand billows. If I gaze upward, a broad 
canopy of ethereal beauty encompasses me. Every- 
thing, save the ship on which I stand, is of God’s 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


65 


creative mind. I realize as never before my own 
insignificance, with such sublime and colossal sur- 
roundings. I am sensible in a marked degree of 
my finite character, when contrasted with the visible 
evidences of Omniscience. 

I am spectator now. From contemplating this 
outward and upward world of sea and sky, my 
attention is drawn to exhibitions of life above and 
below the surface of the swelling sea. Yonder, 
this unending sameness of view is broken by 
tlie light-winged Albatross ; there, the mind is 
for the moment arrested by the graceful and rapid 
swingings of the Stormy Petrel ; here, near the 
surface, I notice, as keeping company with our noble 
ship, a school of mackerel. To me how strangely 
new these all appear! These finny creatures, what 
company and joy they give to all on board ! A little 
nation among themselves. Watching them hour 
after hour, I think of the many wonders down 
there in what seems the unfathomable. A world 
within itself. Nor am I alone in my musings. 
Right royal company surrounds me. In Ada La- 
throp, I find an appreciative and jovial spirit. She 
seems to enter into all the enjoyable things con- 
nected with our voyage. Having a naturally sweet 
voice, and being trained in the higher grades of 
music, she has made many friends, and charmed all 
on board with her superb singing and playing. 
Whether on account of the natural attachments 


66 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


which are incidental to ocean travel, or from other 
causes, I know not, but the fact is plainly evident 
I seem to be, somehow, in a better frame of mind 
when Ada is company. It may be that our similar 



ADA LATHKOP AT THE PIANO. 


surroundings, and the fact that we were known to 
each other at home, have much to do with my 
feelings. Be this as it may, her presence grows 
more welcome each day. Such a contrast too in 
our dispositions. She all life and vivacity, while I 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


67 


am usually in a serious mood. Then she is up in 
all the current topics of society, and well versed 
in general literature. And her mind running in a 
different vein from mine, relieves the monotony of 
my mental wanderings. Her brother Cyrus oc- 
casionally adds his presence, but most of the time 
has been very considerate in his attentions to Bertha 
Clarke. Well I am pleased that he has such an 
attractive friend. I should not wonder in the least 
if Miss Clarke would infatuate the fellow. She 
certainly has an impressive way about her. I was 
fortunate enough last evening to have an introduc- 
tion to her, and an hour in her company showed 
her to be fascinating. Her father, too, I found 
most excellent society. Naturally the old gentleman 
feels proud of the attention evoked by his daughter. 



68 


REVERIES OF A YOIJxNG MAN 


CHAPTER VIII. 

We are told that “ some people are born to fame, 
others win distinction, while a few have greatness 
thrust upon them.” I readily recognize large grains 
of truth in this statement. I don’t know, however, 
that I specially covet any .one of these appellations. 
If to win distinction is to make scaffoldings of other 
men’s rights, while constructing my own temple for 
personal aggrandizement, I shall waste no energy 
in that direction. To-night I feel sufficiently blessed 
in my surroundings. The air is laden with a life- 
giving freshness, the moon is out in her full regal 
splendor, while countless stars add additional efful- 
gence to the outlook on the restless waters. 

I think of the expressive words of Watts, in his 
contemplations of this ethereal dome : 

“ Soon as tlie evening shades prevail, 

The moon takes np her wondrous tale, 

And nightly to a listening earth, 

Repeats the story of her birth, 

While all the stars that round her burn 
And all the planets in their turn, 

Confirm the tidings as they roll, 

And spread the truth from pole to pole.” 

Somehow, however, not a star in the multitude seems 
as brilliant as the one near me, who by chance is to 
be my sponsor for the evening. 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


69 


In the realms of lower organism, I have clearly 
demonstrated to my own satisfaction the existence 
of impellent and repellent forces. In the higher 
stratas of intelligence, the same principle is so 



HOW A .-iTAR .SI CiOE.STKU BERTHA CEAKKE’s PRESEXCE. 


generally diffused, that I am gratified to witness 
hourly its manifestations. A rose would be just as 
sweet under some other name. There is a language 
too to flowers. So also I accept, as revealers of the 


70 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


inner life, the attractive and repellent energies, no 
matter what name they may assume. Words, at 
best, are but feeble vehicles of thought. Whether 
we designate this force magnetism, the influence 
psychological, electrical, or mesmeric, is of slight 
account to me. Its existence is a sublime reality, 
and this fact yields me'untold satisfaction. Witness 
the assembled multitude, held spell-bound by the 
orator through its agency. On the stage, in the 
pulpit, and in the family circle we see its operations. 
Mind acting upon mind, heart upon heart, until the 
circuit of influences are made to reach the highest 
delectations of heart and brain. I but feebly out- 
line my thought here. To exalt the conceptions of 
man’s station in the order of creation, is but to lift 
him on a still higher plane. As an epitome of the 
universe, in his most exalted state, man was consid- 
ered the crowning work of God’s hands. In the 
language of Browning : 

“Since God collected and resumed in man 
The firmaments, the strata, and the lights, 

Fish, fowl, beast, and insect — all their trains 
Of various life caught back upon his arms. 

Reorganized and constituted Man, 

The microcosm, the adding up of works ” 


“ Beally, I beg pardon ! if in my soliloquizings, I 
have for the instant failed to pay you proper deference. 
— Miss Bertha, I am most happy to have you join 
me to-night. But a few moments since when I had 


IN QUEST OP A WIFE. 


71 


a delightful reverie, aud at a time, too, that those 
beautiful stars up there brought you in thought 
quite near me. You know comets sometimes get out 
of their orbits, I may have been out of mine. What 
think you?” “Well, Mr. Willoughby, can’t you 
give me an easy problem ? The orbit in which most 
men move is so large, and so frequently irregular, that 
it would be mere guess-work, to give response. JNIen 
can say and do so many things without being called 
to account, that I little wonder they lose their circuit 
sometimes. You, however, must have had a most 
delightful mental excursion to become so absorbed. 
I am glad to be with you for a while. It may re- 
lieve your mind, be sort of a diversion to you, to 
talk with a chatter-box like me. A change no 
doubt will do us both good. Haven’t we had 
gorgeous weather since we left home ? The trip 
thus far has been a sort of feast to me. How has 
it been with you ? ” 

“ Well, Miss Clarke, I have found the days both 
pleasurable and instructive. The weather certainly 
has favored us, and I feel it specially fortuitous that 
I should have made your acquaintance. I noticed 
you shortly aft6r coming on board, and wondered 
who you were. We met by chance surely. What 
think you ? ” 

“Mr. Willoughby, generally speaking,! takelittle 
stock in chances, but it does look that way. Excuse 
me, are you going to Paris after getting through 


72 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


with your business in London ? If so, I sliall be 
happy to have you call and see me. We expect to 
remain there at least two months. Will put up at 
the Hotel De Lafayette.” 

“Thank you, Miss Bertha, if able to go to Paris, 
to call on you would give me much pleasure. Then 
too, I would dearly love to see Paris. I have heard 
and read so much about it, that 1 feel that a visit 
would give me better conceptions of a people who 
have so largely moulded the fashions of the world.” 

“Yes, Mr. AV., the French people are wonderful, 
so full of life and gayety,and so elastic in their make- 
up, that to me it isn’t surprising in the least that 
they occupy so large a space on the pages of history. 
Some of the richest gems of thought to be found 
in literature, are emanations of French writers. 
And in liberality of thought they have at times 
dazzled the world. The Torch of Liberty so soon 
to light up New York harbor, is but a feeble expres- 
sion of their recognition of freedom, as the hope of 
the world. Do try, Mr. AV., and spend a week at 
least in the gay capital of France. — Yonder comes 
papa. Bless his dear soul, he is so considerate in 
all that concerns me. Good gracious! it is after 
eleven o’clock, and so I must reluctantly say good- 
night, in the hope of seeing you again before we 
disembark.” 

Zounds ! that is a charming girl. Not a bad idea 
too, if possible, to prolong my stay a week or two 
longer than I had set upon. AAlio knows what a 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


73 


visit to Paris would bring about? Assuredly, I would 
receive a cordial reception from one person at least. 
That alone would amply compensate. Well, I’ll see. 
There is such a sort of mystery associated with this 



ward named in uncle’s legacy, that I am all at sea. 
My curiosity is gradually becoming intensified as to 
who she is ; what she looks like. Fortunately, I will 
soon know all, and for the present must therefore be 
content till my arrival. 


6 


74 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER IX 

How changed the outlook this morning ! Dark, 
angry clouds roll through space as if on the eve of 
battle. The wind is more than a gale; a wild 
reckless storm has set in. Billows chase each other 
with impetuous fury, carrying our ship one moment, 
as if a mere cork, on crests mountain high, while 
another moment we go down as if to be buried in 
the foaming waters. Sails have been reefed, 
the deck cleared, and hatchways closed. The 
captain and first mate are at the helm doing their 
utmost to keep the vessel in her course. All hands 
are on the alert, and ready to meet emergencies. 
For we are on the eve of what is termed a “ King 
Storm ” on the sea. The whole heavens are as one 
vast tornado of shell, shot and canister. The 
lightning as if on a mad frolic, succeeded by heavy 
rolls and crashing peals of thunder athwart the 
sky, make the picture one of awful grandeur. 
Never till now did I realize the perils of the ocean. 
Usually of a calm demeanor, for the first my nerves 
are put to a crucial test. What forebodings rush 
through the brain ! What retrospects crowd the 
memory ! Our hopes centre, as one, in the intrepid 
captain, wondering if his skill, and the stanchness 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


75 


of our ship, will give relief to the painful tension 
of so many anxious hearts. How little those on 
land know of the dangers which now environ us. 
If ever man’s insignificance, if ever a vivid concep- 
tion of his nothingness, ’tis with such enfoldings as 
those I experience to-day. All day long the ele- 
ments have tossed our steamer, as if a plaything in 
the surging sea. 

The scene changes, winds and rains abate, and 
the setting sun now quiets our troubled spirits. The 
storm is over. Till now little did I think what 
changes one single day could make. A hundred 
passengers yesterday strangers to each other, to-day 
are friends. Station, caste, wealth — all partitions 
which society or custom had erected — were swept 
away in the presence of what seemed, for a while, 
disaster to all. Cordial greetings and kindly recog- 
nitions are general now. Out of danger surely 
sometimes cometh good. The pleasurable emotion 
experienced in meeting friends is doubly enhanced 
after distress common to others and you alike. 
There is then a sort of unfolding of the inner 
self to each other. Ada and Bertha are both 
better understood than before the storm, and like- 
wise I to them. There is such a blending of 
sympathies succeeding such occasions, that we 
unconsciously feel nearer to each other. And may 
not these lead imperceptibly to closer alliance? 
From the cold, informal Mr. Willoughby, both 


76 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


of these dear girls address me as Frank. And 
I, too, in a sort of I don’t know how way, am per- 
mitted to say Ada or Bertha as chance may offer. 
These obstructions removed, I feel more at ease, and 
I am not sure but a little closer in their regard. In- 



KXCHANGING CARDS WITH FLORENCE AVINTHROP. 


deed, all things considered, I am encouraged in the 
success thus far attending my trip across the Atlan- 
tic. There is Miss Winthrop from Utica, a most 
interesting lady, who, in company with her mother, 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


77 


is going to Vienna. Both mother and daughter 
are charming society. The storm, by peculiar co- 
incidence, brought about our acquaintance, and 
exchange of cards. They seemed to know of my 
father, through the circumstance of their son and 
brother graduating at the college of which he at 
one time was president. I promised, on ray return 
to America, to call and see the family. I learn the 
old lady is rich, and only two children, Kalph and 
Florence ; I guess I’ll take it in. No use of being in 
haste. If $100,000 or so accomjiany the respon- 
sive chords, I don’t know that it should be allowed 
to stand in the way. Miss Florence is tall, too, and 
of regal presence, and what one would call decidedly 
blonde, with full and most bewitching blue eyes. 
Then she is at home in both French and Spanish, 
besides a rare conversationalist. As yet, of course, 
I know too little of her, to make any estimate as 
to her harmonizing with the elements of my com- 
position. Well ! what is the use of mental specu- 
lation now ? Wait till the mystery is cleared away 
concerning that ward and legacy business: then I 
may be able to make reckonings as to the future. 
And after that, 1 will probably take in a few places 
of interest. Most likely I shall make one more 
patron of the Hotel de Lafayette. 

How we shift from the real to the shadowy ! Why 
should I build on what is not ? Yesterday was mine ; 
to-day is ; to-morrow may never he. Ami building? 


78 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


No, I am only getting acquainted with the qualities 
of different timber, its elasticity, durability, growth 
and location. Women are of such variable fibres 
that one needs to fully understand them. Some 
are fine-grained, like rosewood, susceptible of the 
finest polish. Others are coarse-grained and frail 
in qualities of endurance. Each no doubt has its 
use, and perhaps its counterpart. Only by knowing 
the relative relations and properties of each can I 
hope to select wisely. The process of building is 
made easy when we know where the material grows. 
I wish that which both adorns and utilizes. The 
fine, warm fibre that reflects when polished the dual 
charms of mind and heart. People are much like 
trees. Some are stanch, hardy, stately and fruitful ; 
others dwarfed, knotty and useless. Too many 
bear nothing but leaves. No, I am not looking for 
an angel, but a something that may become one in 
the sweet by and by. O ! ye ministering spirits, 
guide me to some inner life, under planet born to 
be my mate. 



IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


79 


CHAPTER X. 

r>o I believe in the law of endless progression ? 
In continual growth and development of organized 
life? Yes, in a qualified sense, I do. Not that all 
growth in intelligent life is from the lower to the 
higher scale of existence. Sometimes the tendency 
seems downward, a sort of retrogression from former 
conditions. I do not find absolute inertia, or a state 
of re^t, in either the material or the mind world. 
Philosophy tells us that an object set in motion 
would so continue unless arrested by friction. This 
relatively is no doubt true, but actually is not' the 
fact. Unending changes are continually going on, 
not only in the fractional parts of the object, but in 
the greater unit with which it apjiarently lies in a 
state of rest. Growth and decay go on uninter- 
mittingly. As one tissue or fibre wears out, and is 
resolved into other forms, new ones take its place. 
This is demonstrated in physical life in multitu- 
dinous ways. Exhilaration or depression is made 
manifest during many of these changes. And yet 
we know nothing is absolutely annihilated. 

While all this is evident to my senses, I cannot 
accept in toto the Darwinian theory, that all higher 
life had its origin in the lower species and varieties 


80 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 



HKK FAITH MADE HEK HAPPY 





IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


81 


of organism. That man once was the embodiment 
of another class of intelligent, or non-intelligent 
motion. I see clearly golden veins of truth here 
and there in this metaphysical, and to some extent 
philosophical reasoning. In the aggregate, it is not 
sustained by concurrent testimony, neither past nor 
present. 

So far as physical life goes, fluctuations and 
changes will ever continue. That by contact and 
association with higher grades of moral and intel- 
ligent beings, man inevitably progresses to higher 
planes and capacities. This is seen and known too 
well to admit discussion. Spencer, Tyndale, Darwin 
and other students of science have evolved thought, 
and awakened thereby the dormant faculties of the 
thoughtless multitude. Involution and evolution 
become hand-maids to higher attainments. Bigotry 
and superstition must give way before the electric 
light of truth, come from whatever source it may. 

In my search for safety guides to a given end, I at 
times may ramble in what appear foreign fields. 'Tis 
not so here ; for progression, involution, evolution, 
all add their mites toward a fuller conception of 
that complex life and destiny, man. Through all 
and by all, I am enabled more clearly to comprehend 
that variable creature, woman. To believe in “a 
dreamless sleep that knows no waking ” may satisfy 
the reckless world; to me it is an index to an aching 
void. It is a shadow to hope, midnight to the 


82 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 





THE “white stab" ENTERING LIVERPOOL HARBOR. 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


83 


natural longings of the human soul. Such a thought 
does not lead upward towards unending joy. Hap- 
pier far was crazy Kate. Her faith was whole. 
Standing there on rock made smooth by constant 
tread, looking out across the sea, she still hoped the 
missing ship would soon bring back her lover of 
years ago. Day by day she came and went in joyful 
hope of his return. This was the sheet-anchor of 
her life. Who would break the spell and bring her 
gloom ? 

I may not accept as literally true the biblical 
account of the garden of Eden. As an allegorical 
representation of good and evil, the picture conveys, 
as sequences to human actions, the idea of penalties 
and compensations. This also nature teaches. Vio- 
lation of laws, physical or moral, brings its agony. 
And correspondingly, thought and action, in unison 
with the laws in the realms of mind and matter, 
give us vibrations of ecstatic joy. 

Knowing this, I am strong in faith that I will 
eventually be led to triumph ; for to understand the 
laws, and be led by their teachings, have thus far 
brought compensation. Yes, I am hopeful. The 
outlook is inviting. Dear me, how time flies ! Here 
I am in the harbor of Liverpool. 


84 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER XI. 

Another leaf in my history. After parting salu- 
tations with friends on landing from the “ White 
Star” late in the afternoon, I settled on spending a 
day here in Liverpool, this wonderful centre of com- 
merce. To-night I have agreeable surroundings at 
the St. George, where, unexpectedly, I found among 
the guests, Harry Fornea and his attractive sister 
Josie, from Philadelphia. They, having spent 
several months on the Continent, are on the eve of 
returning to America. How fortunate I am ! They 
have booked me on routes, hotels and places of in- 
terest, and greatly relieved my cogitations in this 
direction. I never saw Miss Josie look better. She 
was always vivacious, but to-night she seemed un- 
usually brilliant. I like her style, so natural and 
unrestrained. Little, scarcely a hundred pounds, 
but what a fine mould ! A spirit, too, that hardly 
knows its boundary. Why is it she accelerates my 
pulsations? Another evidence of mind magnetism, 
I suppose. That’s the type of attraction I guess 
is genuine. Some affinity, surely, in our mental 
organism. Intellectual philosophy sustains this 
thought. Animal magnetism is physical, and no 
doubt perishable. Those elements which originate 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


86 


through the medium of thought, as responsive to 
like thought, have sort of a spiritual essence about 
them. Are they not more than fragments of the 
soul ? Language is inadequate at times to make one 
understood. The soul essence must be thus some- 
times interchanged ; a sort of invisible spirit union. 
Now, I feel better ; my wrestling for soul expression 
is in a degree triumphant. What a mystery life is ! 

Through the retina of the eye we mirror the outer 
world, the moving panorama of that material uni- 
verse, results of creative forces in science, in the 
arts and mechanics. Architecture gives the outlines 
and measurements ; Mechanics succeeds in con- 
struction ; Science unfolds the law ; Art makes 
visible and beautifies : and these all are reflected 
through the sense of sight. 

Likewise the mind mirrors unto itself and to other 
minds, through the imponderable currents of 
thought and emotion, the higher conceptions and 
responses of heart and soul. 

Well, whither am I drifting? Into the domain 
of philosophy and mental phenomena, surely. Let 
me pause. Diversion will give me rest, and per- 
chance brighter lights. Looking back on my un- 
dulating path, I realize that in the main I am nearer 
the goal. Just think ! What a circle of bright girls 
I already have, and no two alike. Most men would 
be in raptures had they my chance. I am occasion- 
ally in that condition myself, and may be beyond 


86 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 



investigation, and a sort of delightful pastime also. 
What treasure book will furnish it ? Were I to 
bring them in review, might not the planets which 
guide their lives this language to me reveal. V isions 


the positive and comparative degrees ere long. Who 
knows ? Quite an inventory. All pretty names too, 
and there is something in a name. Like flowers, 
they have a sort of language. Would it not be well 
for me to know a little in this direction ? Profitable 


VIEWING LIVERPOOL BY MOONLIGHT. 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


87 


to mortal man are not unknown ; why not them now? 
O! spirits of those distant orbs, shed on me thy 
cheering rays, and give me light and joy to name 
them all. They come! For Clara’s is “ illustrious, 
bright;” Ada’s gifts are “rich and happy;” and 
Bertha, they say, means “ beautiful ; ” while Flor- 
ence conveys the thought of “ blooming youth.” 
Well done ! No leafless plant among them all. 
Bright, rich, beautiful, blooming. Each a charm- 
ing picture to one like me. An index truly, as each 
I know. Frank’s star must really mean “ well 
born and noble,” for all goes well when such darlings 
from which to choose. Too early yet to press a 
suit. One day more and I’ll know fully about that 
ward. 



88 


REVERIES OP A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER XII. 

Impressions are at times fleeting and unreal. 
Mental conceptions are often so. By a sort of 
intuition we draw outlines of people and places, 
how they look and live. Without apparent volition, 
the mind forms a sort of perspective view of homes, 
trees, gardens, and running brooks, surrounding 
those of whom we have only heard. Occasionally 
the actual reproduces in striking light the ideal. In 
a marked degree I find it so to-day. 

The grasp of hand and greeting smile bid wel- 
come to Aunt Mary’s home. In London now. 
Though I had met uncle Melville once, his widow 
I had never seen. In age, in size, in look, she is 
not unlike the picture I had drawn. Her house 
and home make one at ease, and yet how lonely she 
appears ! In the drapery of mourning, she seems 
disconsolate. Her loyal consort is gone. 

“The tuneful harp, that once with joy she strung 

When praise employed and mirth inspired the lay, 

In mournful silence now on willows hung. 

And growing grief prolongs the tedious day.” 

As best I can I turn the current of her thoughts 
with description of my voyage and friends across 
the sea. She laughed heartily when I told her that 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


89 


I had discovered a new method of finding a wife. 
When I outlined the experiments made and the 
prospects attending them, she was almost tantalizing 



FRANK’S ARRIVAL AT HIS AUNT’S IN LONDON. 


in her mirth. “And Mr. Willoughby, are you 
really looking for a wife ? ” “ Never meant business 
more in my life ; and I tell you, aunt, it is a ponder- 


90 


REVERTES OP A YOUNG MAN 


ous undertaking, especially when one adopts such a 
plan as I have. If it were only a wife I was seeking, 
it might be easy. I am looking for more than that; 
I am in quest of a spirit that will fully respond to 
all the elements' of mind and emotion; a being, 
who, united, will make a oneness in thought and 
soul with my own.” “ You are on the wrong 
planet for such a creature, Mr. W. Why, you 
want an angel, and they are up there, not here.” 
“ My dear woman, that’s just where you are wrong. 
This little planet on which you and I live contains 
thousands of spirits equal to the one I have 
described ; it may, however, only hold one precisely 
my ideal, and that one, I on several occasions 
thought I had found. Possibly I have, and don’t 
fully know it yet.” “ You are an oddity, Frank. I 
wish I had your faith. Many a dark cloud would 
vanish, and silver linings would gild all others.” 
“ You are not the only one, aunt, who have termed 
me odd ; that is a mild appellation. Many of my 
best friends consider me visionary ; that is, a little 
off the hinges, sort of queer. This don’t disturb my 
equanimity in the least. If we are to move only as 
private or public opinion directs, we satisfy in 
the end no one, and most certainly enslave one’s 
own individuality. Men of genius, philosophers, 
inventors and reformers in their time have been 
dubbed almost everything in the catalogue of oddi- 
ties, and yet later years have erected imperishable 


IN QUEST OP A WIFE. 


91 


monuments to their memories. Archimedes per- 
formed, no doubt, some strange freaks when he 
discovered specific gravity. From the bath-tub 
through the streets of ancient Troy, crying ‘ Eu- 
reka ! Eureka !’ was undoubtedly anything else than 
decorum ; still the cause of his exultation was a 
discovery to enrich the world. So I might go on 
ad infinitum’' 

“Yes, Mr. W., there is both truth and logic in 
what you say, but you know we women don’t always 
so carefully analyze these things. Men seem to 
penetrate farther into the mysteries of life. There 
are exceptions, of course, but the rule will in the 
main hold good. I certainly feel entertained by 
this discussion, and am so happy to know that 
you are to remain with us a while. Couldn’t you 
arrange to stay longer than the time you named ? 
Virginia is spending a few days with my brother’s 
family. We expect her home Monday, and I know 
she would be delighted with you, and possibly her 
presence would add to the pleasure of your visit to 
London.” “ Who is she, aunt? ” 

“ Oh, she is that ward referred to in my letter 
to you. She participates in the legacy your uncle 
made. She is very companionable, and regards me 
in the light of a mother. In fact she has been 
with us so long that she is scarcely aware of any 
other. I consider it providential that she is with us. 
There have been periods in my life, especially since 


92 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


my bereavement, that but for her existence would 
have been unbearable. So full of tender sympathy, 
and so thoughtful of all those little things which min- 
ister to one’s happiness, that I have grown to love 
Virginia with a love almost more than that of a 
mother. She had also so naturally entwined herself 
in the affections of your uncle Charles that her future 
was carefully provided for in his Will. He desired 
that her education be completed, and that everything 
be done which would ensure her future happiness. 
You have been made her guardian, and we both 
felt that the trust would be safe in your hands. A 
portion of the property left me also is conditioned 
to additional grants to Virginia in the event of 
certain contingencies. She is already advanced in 
the higher English branches, and can both read and 
speak French. As to music, she is full of it, and 
can play and sing almost anything. The guitar, 
however, is her favorite instrument, and with it she 
delights us all. You, indeed, will find her a re- 
markably bright girl. Although only past sixteen, 
her future seems full of rich possibilities under 
proper counsel and direction. I do hope, Frank, 
that you will be able to carry out both the letter 
and spirit of your uncle’s Will in regard to our dear 
Virginia.” 

“ Really aunt, your description of the girl deeply 
interests me, and I will anxiously look for her re- 
turn home. I would like to see the Will ; have you it 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


93 


near? ” “Yes, right here in this little treasure box. 
I placed it there to have it convenient for you. 
Here it is ; I do hope you will find it all right and 
free from legal obstructions. Excuse me, I must 



FRANK READING THE WILL. 


give directions for Tea, for I know you must by this 
time feel the need of nourishment.” 

Well, here it is, the Will. That portion relating 
to that ward, more particularly interests me : 


94 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


“I give and bequeath to my nephew, Frank 
Willoughby, of Philadelphia in the States of 
America, the sum of five thousand pounds sterling, 
lawful money of Great Britain, on the following 
conditions to wit : That he, the said Frank Wil- 
loughby, take charge of and have educated in all 
the higher branches which are included in the cur- 
riculum of studies in female colleges, my ward, 
Virginia Creighton, and that she receive such care 
and kindly consideration as may be necessary for 
her highest development in all that pertains to ex- 
alted and distinctive womanhood, and to that end I 
hereby appoint and confirm said Frank Willoughby 
her true and lawful guardian with all the rights 
pertaining to such a sacred trust.” 

Now I know it all. It involves unexpected 
responsibilities. Should I assume them ? I know 
of no honorable way of evading them even if I 
wished. I will not mar the spirit of one so good. 
Uncle’s will shall be mine in truth and duty. Vir- 
ginia shall find in me a friend, a conservator of 
health, hope, and happiness. Yet I am not enlight- 
ened as to her parentage. Who was her father ? 
Who was her mother ? How came she to be my 
uncle’s ward ? Some mystery must be connected 
with her history. Sooner or later I must know all. 

“ Mr. Willoughby, I hope you will pardon my ab- 
sence and seeming neglect. Come, Tea is ready ; noth- 
ing tempting I know, but enough perhaps to relieve 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


95 


you ot‘ fatigue. Will try and please you better in the 
morning. ” “ How considerate you are aunt ; why a 
most bountiful supply. I am beginning to feel very 
much at home already.” “ Glad to hear it. When 
Virginia comes, Frank, I think you’ll feel still more 
so. She makes every body that comes feel that 
way.” 

I think it was King Argelius who once said : 
“ Excite the curiosity without satisfying it, and you 
rule the world.” 

Aunt is a bright little woman, and it is barely 
possible she is testing the truth of this maxim, and 
her nephew is the subject. 

There is such a charm in studying the effect of 
beautiful draperies to one’s character, that aunt may 
have only outlined those of Virginia’s in order to 
draw forth some manifestations from her guardian — 
and, in this, she has not failed in achievement. 


» 



96 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER XIII. 

Hoyt says “ night is a bridge between two days.” 
If this be so, the one I crossed over since Tea was 
most strangely built. With silver cables and wires 
of gold, it spanned a world of life and beauty. 

Below were floating palaces with steam and sail, 
and feathered oars plied by fairy bands, on what 
seemed an unrufiled sea. Notes as if from ^olian 
harps, charmed the ear and thrilled the soul. I 
saw, as in a dream one sees, ensigns of every clime. 

Above were curling clouds in endless form and 
motion; fantastic shapes at towering heights, like 
shifting mountain views. One instant I beheld 
what looked like angel forms through space to pass. 
Some of these had features wild and strange, and 
oft did change their course. Others in expression 
were calm, and moved as if by trade-winds borne. 
A few were large, many small, and more than one 
was beautiful. 

The scene changed ! I looked again, and only 
one I saw. Reclining as on the wings of a purple 
cloud, I beheld a flgure of surpassing grace, with 
eyes of azure blue. As one transfixed, I gazed 
upon a face illumined as if by celestial light. Its 
waving silk-like hair seemed tinged ,vith gold, while 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


97 


moving lips, perchance, were syllabling the music 
of other spheres. It was a woman — I awoke, the 
spell was broken, the charm gone. I am over the 
bridge. ’Tis another day. My first morning in 
the sovereign city of the eastern world. Here are 
centred the wealth, the lore, the wisdom and the 
intrigues of ages. Here are ranks and titles, leisure 
and luxury, won and inherited through long lines of 
ancestry. Here are all grades, conditions, and 
nationalities ; one vast wilderness of human habita- 
tions. Art, science, virtue, vice, all have their aids 
and votaries. The rich and poor, as a mighty mul- 
titude, swarm the Streets, the marts of trade and 
tenements of destitution. Volumes of thought crowd 
the mind. 

Memories that appeared buried are resurrected, 
when in the midst of a people whose commerce is 
mistress of the sea, and whose capital centralized, 
largely affects the interests of the world. Dukes, 
lords, earls, princes, kings and queens here have 
played their parts. Who knows but I may have a 
part likewise here to play ? 

The earth revolves, and why not I on some central 
axis? What that is, is ofttimes undefined. Nay, 
more, am I not revolving now through space as well 
as thought? I ask myself queer things at times. 
Day and night, the seasons all, are_ changes made 
by motion. Have I not them also? Yes, one has 
a sort of solar system of his own, a central luminary 


98 


KEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


around which he revolves. The two motions are 
perhaps the chief causes of the perplexities I en- 
counter. You see the line through the centre of 
one’s own planet is generally difficult to draw. All 
parts not being equal distance from any centre we 
may elect, our revolutions are strained and irregular. 
Not unlike a fourth of July pin-wheel, when the 
match is applied, we move by jerks and starts; a 
little while we dazzle by sparks and beauty of mo- 
tion, and again we twist and make eccentric splurges. 
And these are daily. The other motion around the 
chosen orb (be that what it may) is oft made un- 
even and somewhat rectangular. The orbit of the 
earth is anade oblong (and not a circle) from attrac- 
tive and I’epulsive forces. So, likewise, our own. 
Precisely what shape or form my orbit was I once 
did know, but since so many planets crossed my 
path, I am not certain where I am, nor exactly what 
my course. The central figure so oft has changed 
that I am somewhat at sea, and ere long, for aught 
I know, another orbit will be formed. Virginia 
may be the central light to guide my planet in its 
course. There is no use in trying to down the im- 
possible. I must confess that aunt has awakened 
unusual interest in that girl. I grow impatient for 
her return. Why should I be thus? A trust, 
grave responsibility, and an inconceivable amount of 
care must be associated with her guardianship. She 
may be all lovely now ; who knows what changes a 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE 



WAS IT A VISION OR A DREAM ? 


100 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


few years, under different influences, may bring 
about? It hardly becomes me anyhow to have such 
cogitations concerning her. 

“ Why, Mr. Willoughby ! I began to feel quite 
uneasy about you. Where have you been ?” 

“ Been making a little trip of my own. London 
is so big that I’ll have to sort of divide it up into 
circles, and take it in that way. How different from 
New York in style of most of the architecture. 
There is such a quaintness and ancient look about 
many of the business houses and dwellings, that I 
became exceedingly interested while on my rambles. 
I can’t, however, say that I would like to live here. 
The lines are too strongly drawn between the 
grades of people to suit one of my cosmopolitan 
ideas. Of course I know there will be dividing 
lines always between the rich and poor ; but the 
exhibition of assumed superiority of so many over 
those no doubt their equals, on account of some 
blue-blood theory, strikes me as ludicrous in the 
extreme.” 

“ Well, Frank, one living here gets used to that, 
and of course takes little notice of such thing’s. 
Our ideas of things are largely formed from customs 
and habits surrounding us. We are sort of educated 
up to an appreciation of what is so general. Were 
you to remain in London a year, you would change 
your notions of people and things very much.” 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


101 


“ I am free to confess, aunt, that what one sees so 
generally recognized as right, has an influence to 
bring one’s mind generally in the same channel as 
that of the many. Still I don’t think I would ever 
grow to regard with favor many of the customs of 
society here. By both inheritance and education, 
I am too American to feel comfortable when I see 
inferiority so decided, looking down as with con- 
tempt upon superiority even more marked. Hope 
you will pardon, aunt, such expressions. Propriety, 
perhaps, should forbid comment. The process of 
education has been so gradual that, after all, no 
doubt, these people are not conscious of unwarranted 
arrogations. In Rome they say we should do as 
the Romans do, and why not I in England also ? ” 

“ Not interrupting you, Frank, you have n’t told 
me what you think of the Will, nor what your deci- 
sion was.” 

“ I find the Will, aunt, all right in its legal bear- 
ings, and after some deliberation, I have decided to 
conform with your and uncle Charles’s desire. I 
feel thankful for the confidence you have reposed in 
me, and shall to the best of my ability carry out the 
conditions of the bequest.” 

“ I am so happy, Frank, to hear you speak thus, 
and sincerely hope that we may all live to see Vir- 
ginia in the full enjoyment of our highest expecta- 
tions.” 

“ In all these I fully concur. In fact, aunt, you 


102 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


have created sucli elevated conceptions of the girl 
in my mind that by a sort of affinity between heart 
and thought, I, even without having seen her, feel 
a most tender interest in lier future.’' 

Thank my stars, Virginia will be here in two 
days more. 



IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


103 


CHAPTER XIV. 

Thanks ! ’Tis Sunday. There are hours when 
we gladly welcome an offering of rest. Times 
when one’s heart and mind are peculiarly receptive 
to quiet influences. My wanderings of yesterday, 
amid the endless commotion and hum of a bustling 
city, no doubt have brought to-day’s appreciation of 
such a change. Body and spirit at times need rest. 
Thus they feel just now. The chiming bells and 
hush of business speak peace from secular strife. 
And well ’tis so. 

Affinity of thought again is shown ! Hidden 
links of years ago, as bright as then, in memory’s 
chain come clearly now in view, the words of Mrs. 
Hale: 

“Hail, Holy day ! the blessing from above 
Brightens thy presence like a smile of love, 

Smoothing like oil upon a stormy sea. 

The roughest waves of human destiny. 

Cheering the good, and to the poor oppressed. 

Bringing the promise of their heavenly rest. 

And thus, in troublous toil and struggling strife. 

Forever on had been the law of life. 

The doom of man unceasing toil and care. 

No freedom for the Soul, no pause for prayer; 

But urged by earth’s tumultuous stream away, 

’Till Death’s dark gulf receive the shrinking prey ; 


104 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


Had not the restless flow of common time 
Been stayed and calmed by Mercy’s sacred chime. 
Sounding in one day the tidings blest, 

That God ordained the Sabbath’s peaceful rest.” 


Meditations and soliloquizings, how involuntarily 
they come upon me with the outward stillness. As 
on the wings of morning light I am carried to home 
and friends again. I see the little church near 
Clara’s home, where she and I have ofttimes been. 
I wonder if she’ll be there to-day. How queer it 
is ! “ Distance,” they say, “ lends enchantment to 

one’s view.” It seems so now. Mysterious life ! 

The little button, when by finger pressed, set 
exposition wheels in motion. The electric spark 
in an instant made its circuit. Washington and 
New Orleans were as one in time and place. 

We speak in telephonic funnel, and our voice is 
even known. Just how articulation is kept a unit, 
we little can conceive. 

How thought must move on kindred waves ; be 
borne through space by magnetic streams, not yet 
by man controlled. I pause to vievv, and, as through 
mist, I see a way for science to pursue. 


How oft of friends we think just before they are seen ! 
Why ’tis so, few yet know, but science will reveal ; 

And when that day dawns, the essence of Eternal Truth 
Will make broad the road, open wider still the door 
To Celestial realms, when battlings here are o’er, 

Where dissimulations and contentions ai'e unknown. 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


105 


I am not overly credulous. Indeed many of my 
best friends consider me in many things deistical. 
I do not place myself on that list, however. I 
scarcely think I am fettered in any special sense. 
My delight is to make discoveries, and nowhere 
more than in the domains of heart and mind. I 
feel, too, that I am gradually approaching the zenith 
of my ambition in this direction. Antecedent 
discoveries make easier the consequent. The science 
of quantity becomes more interesting and clearer 
to one’s view, when we master more thoroughly the 
underlying principles. To know the simple and 
local value of a unit, to understand its abstract and 
concrete relation to tangible substances, or impon- 
derable creations, is to be supplied with both lever 
and fulcrum ; and these will give immeasurable 
rewards, if properly and assiduously used. 

The fundamental elements in law, comprehended 
in their fulness, likewise lead us, as by a giant’s 
hand, up to the source of universal law. Principles 
never die; they are immortal. Every truth 
that we discover and are able to appropriate, is to 
possess just that much more of the essence of the 
Infinite. 

When we are able to control, and make subservient 
to our wills, the law of affinity which bridges space 
and blends as one kindred thought, no ill-matched 
pair, like old age and poverty, will then be made. 

8 


106 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


Sects and creeds will fade away, 

As mists before the rising sun. 

All then will see, and feel and know 
That God is love, above, below. 

Drifting again ! Strange what measures ideas 
take. 

As on a boundless sea, counter winds and currents swell the sail. 

So in metres, short and long and queer, my thoughts are moved to-day : 
Not like Mazeppa, bound on steed through trackless prairies wild — 

One steady, onward, sweeping course, with clinging, helpless child. 

“ Really ! my dear aunt, I was not aware that 
you were in the parlor. What hour is it ? ” 

“ Dinner hour, Frank. I would have called you 
sooner, but thought you were in sort of a revery, 
and did not like to disturb you. I have something 
to tell you. A. very interesting young lady friend 
is expected to-day. She should have been here 
before this, according to her note of last evening. I 
made dinner a little late, thinking she would be liere. 
That’s the bell now ! it must be she ; sure enough, 
I hear her voice ; I must go and meet her.” 

An interesting young lady. No doubt; the most 
I’ve met are so, and why not this friend of aunt’s ? 
Here they come ! 

“ My nephew, Mr. Willoughby ; Miss Field, 
Frank.” 

This is a surprise. Never heard a word of her 
coming ’till but a few moments ago. Aunt knew 
it ; I guess she wanted to take me unawares. And 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


107 


a genuine English girl. She can’t be more than 
eighteen at most. A friend of aunt’s ; Oh, I’ll 
know more. How thoughtful to have her here to- 
day. One would rust if left alone, and that’s been 
pretty well my case since here. From dressing- 
room she’ll soon return, for dinner now is waiting. 

‘‘ Now come to dinner — Frank, take this seat, and 
Miss Gertrude, you take this ; a little nearer to me, 
you know. How glad I am, Gertrude, that you have 
come ; your presence makes one more. Company is 
sunshine to me ; each spirit another ray of light in 
my little home. My nephew’s visit has cheered my 
spirits wonderfully.” 

Thus spoke my aunt — all this, and not a word 
from Miss Field. Her replies were all by nods 
and smiles. Eyes there are that speak. This girl 
has that kind. I’ll draw her out, if I only get the 
chance. That’s business. 

“ What would you think. Miss Field, of an aunt, 
that would tell a nephew who was in quest of a 
wife, that he was ‘ on the wrong planet ’ for such a 
creature ? ” 

“ Well, Mr. Willoughby, I would consider such a 
remark anything but encouraging, and, indeed, not 
very complimentary to her own sex ; whoever made 
it could not have meant it, must have been only in 
fun. Who was it, Mr. Willoughby, and to whom ? ” 

“ Do you see. Miss Field, that little woman over 


108 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


there? Well, that is the identical one that made 
the remark, and to me, too.” 

“To you? You don’t mean to say that you are 
in quest of a wife, Mr. Willoughby ? ” 



GERTRUDE FIELD ADDED TO FRANK’S CIRCLE OF GIRLS. 


“ Precisely so. Miss Field, and really in earnest 
too. Don’t you think such a worthy pursuit should 
be rewarded ? ” 

“ Most assuredly I do; why should there be doubt 


IN QUEST OF A AVIFE. 


109 


attending ambition so laudable, epecially when 
there are so many attractive girls in the matrimonial 
market, I can’t understand. Perhaps you are want- 
ing something double extra, superfine; different 
from most mortals.” 

“ Hardly that. Miss Field, but I am applying 
tests rather odd, and what many call queer. I am 
seeking a spirit that will be a oneness with my own, 
by the laws of affinity. So many have chosen 
wives by the old methods, and wrecked their whole 
lives by so doing, that I have determined to go slow 
and make sure of no mistake. How does my plan 
strike you?” 

“ Looks rather complex, Mr. Willoughby ; per- 
haps I do not understand this affinity idea; ’tis new 
to me. 1 feel interested, but sort of mystified. 
Couldn’t you make it a little clearer ? ” 

“Well! I declare, Frank ! AVho would have 
thought that you would have Gertrude absorbed so 
soon in your affinity doctrine? What will become 
of you if you keep on that way ? All the girls 
will be carried, like you are, away in a revery, and 
I wouldn’t like to see Miss Field lost that way.” 

“ Don’t worry, aunt ; Miss Field is in no danger 
yet ; she is only seeking light from the recesses of 
nature, — that is, the mind world. Sort of studying 
the tangible and imponderable currents, you see. 
Everybody is not susceptible of such influences in 
the same degree. Miss Gertrude seems peculiarly 


110 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


happy in the higher affinities, and these are what I 
am investigating.” 

“ Mr. Willoughby, am so sorry, but here’s a 
message for me ; I am obliged to meet a friend at 
home. Should be happy to have you call before 
leaving the city. Would like to know your ideal. 
Who knows but that I might render you aid ? more 
improbable things than that have taken place. For 
the present, good-night, for brother George awaits 
me at the door.” 



IN QUEST OP A WIFE. 


Ill 


CHAPTER XV. 

Steam whistles and bells, and moving toilers re- 
mind me that Monday is really here. ’Tis the day 
for Virginia’s return. My time in London is grow- 
ing short, and yet I have much to do. There is 
my aunt’s estate to settle up, and the legal papers 
and forms to execute concerning my guardianship 
of that girl. Then I must formulate some plan, as 
to when, where and how, she is to be educated and 
provided for. Shall I leave her with aunt Mary, 
and have her enter some well-known institution 
here? Would it not be better to mould her mind 
with the influences of that larger liberty of thought, 
so inseparable under a free and popular form of gov- 
ernment? Text-books often tincture the mind, with 
ideas scattered here and there. We are dwarfed 
or broadened in conceptions of men and things, 
and, not infrequently, have opinions so fixed in 
early life, that they are not easily changed in after 
years. In the best seminaries and colleges, there 
are so many studies that switch one off from the 
larger and better trains of thought, that I should 
consider well before 1 make a choice of place. To 
see and know the larger world of life and literature, 
books should be carefully chosen, and teachers too. 


112 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


To draw out, unfold, and develop all that’s true and 
good, will be the work of months and years. On 
me all this devolves. What institution shall it be ? 
I think of many. What of “Vassar College” in 
the Empire State ? That’s delightfully situated near 
the beautiful Hudson, and is fully equipped for 
higher culture. Then, too, all the outdoor appoint- 
ments for riding and rowing are there complete ; 
and calisthenics, and other indoor aids, for physical 
development. That’s the spot to place Virginia, 
and I know she’ll like the school. Convenient too, 
only one day’s travel from home, will take me there. 
I’ll book her for Vassar, sure. I wonder how aunt 
will feel when she is gone? Lonely and discon- 
solate, no doubt. A change would do her good. 
I have it now ! Aunt Mary must accompany us on 
my return ; she might spend six months at least. 
Quite an idea, this ! I sincerely hope that aunt will 
consent to make the trip. I have often heard it 
said, that “an Englishman once, an Englishman 
always.” How is it with women to the manor born? 
In a quandary, — never heard. Good chance to make 
a test, if aunt crosses the “ big pond ” with me. 
She might possibly take to our institutions and inde- 
pendent style. Most women love liberty. That’s 
the reason wc took one for our own emblem — a 
“ goddess,” you know. Then, again, she would see 
and know for herself, just how nicely Virginia is 
settled at “Vassar.” Why not remove doubtat once? 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


113 


— I’ll go now, and feel aunt Mary on the question. 
Dear me ! here she comes. 

“ Say, Frank, what do you suppose I have been 
thinking about? ” 

“ Give it up. Not quite far enough advanced in 
my investigations to read the mind yet ; several de- 
grees advanced in that direction though.” 

“ Well, my dear nephew, I have just been saying 



VASSAK COLLEGE, WHERE VIRGINIA CREIGHTON IS BEING EDUCATED. 


to myself, that it wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to 
be another passenger with you on your return. A 
visit to my relatives in New England, and your 
dear mother and father, and those two charming 
nieces, would, no doubt, turn the current of my 
thoughts, and give me brighter ideas and more 
buoyancy of spirit.” 

“ Christopher Columbus ! Aunt, you startle me 
more than the explosion of a bottle of ‘ Mumm’s 



114 


KEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


Extra Dry ! ’ You actually electrify me with delight. 
Affinity of thought again. That’s just what 1 was 
wishing you to do, and was then going to tell you, 
and have my mind settled on the question. Our 
ideas for once were in the same current.” 

“ Oh ! goodness ! gracious! Frank, yonder comes 
Virginia, sure as the world, in company with brother 
Henry. Won’t she be surprised to find you here ? 
I never let her know a word about your arrival, 
just on purpose to surprise her. Keep in the back- 
ground, Frank, and I’ll startle her. 

“ My dear, sweet girl, I am so glad you have re- 
turned; and more than I have been looking anxi- 
ously for your presence. Just come in the parlor 
and I’ll introduce you to a gentleman in whom you 
will feel interested. 

“Mr. Frank Willoughby, my dear nephew, this 
is Virginia Creighton, of whom I have spoken so 
much and so often. I dearly hope that you may 
like each other, as Providence has placed your in- 
terests in such relation through your uncle’s Will. 

“ Virginia, Mr. Willoughby is to be your guar- 
dian. I know he feels a deep interest in you on 
account of the trust confided to him by his uncle 
Charles. I have so much to tell you, Virginia, that 
I am set a whirling, when I begin to think about 
it. Frank also has much to say, and with him I 
leave you for a while, as Mrs. Harper, our neighbor, 
wants to see me on something important.” 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


115 


“ Really ! you are the Virginia I have waited so 
anxiously, almost impatiently, to see. I am most 
happy to meet you. Aunt has said so many pretty 
things about you, that I felt as if I knew you before 
your coming. I presume you have had a pleasant 
visit ? ” 

“ Yes, Mr. Willoughby, a charming and most 
profitable one. Mr. Langford (uncle Henry, I call 
him) lives in one of the dearest and coziest little 
cottages imaginable, in a rural section, just near 
enough to London, to make a visit delightful. I 
love the fields and woods, and how inviting they 
look in the beautiful month of May. There are the 
elegant lawns of the richest green, and flowers in 
profusion and variety. Then the little feathered 
warblers, in meadows and groves, and the music of 
babbling brooks, and there, too, is ‘ Silver Lake,’ 
but a few minutes walk from the house. All these, 
and many more, made me too happy for anything. 
Oh ! it was perfectly grand ! I love the country 
dearly ; don’t you, Mr. Willoughby ? ” 

“ More than love it, Virginia; I am a worshipper 
of almost everything in nature ; for there we see, 
as nowhere else, in their primitive purity, revelations 
of the Divine mind. Each plant, every leaf, bud 
and blossom, as I see it, is so true in its teachings 
of imperishable truth for our edification and guid- 
ance, that I am never more contented than when 
in the realms of the natural world. 


116 


KEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


“ When you spoke of the warblings of birds, it 
brought to mind something aunt said about you, 
Virginia, and that was, your love of music. I learn 



AN AFFINITY OF THOUGHT. 


you both play and sing, and have a guitar. Would 
you favor me with something on it ? Anything 
that you specially like yourself.” 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


117 


“ Mr. Willoughby, I fear your aunt has given 
you extravagant ideas concerning me in music as 
well as many other things. Still if you can stand 
ni}^ reckless sort of discordant style, I will go and 
get my guitar. If you are nervous, Mr Willoughby, 
remember you will be tortured, and no mistake. 
What shall it be ?” 

“As the spirit prompts you, Virginia.” 

“Well, I’ll give you 


The Valley at Chamouni. 

‘“When the heart in golden fancies, 

To the sway of happiest dreams 
Back to the scenes of beauty glances, 

Lit by mern’ry’s brightest beams. 

‘Then I see that vale of fountains, 

Where alp flowers woo tlie gale, 

Under all the snow-crown’d mountains. 
Shining o’er the beauteous vale. 

‘ Oh ! Chamouni, sweet Chamouni, 
Oh! ihe vale of Chamouni, 

Oh ! Chamouni ! sweet Chamouni ; 
Oh ! Cliamouni’s sweet vale. 

‘When I hear alp-horn ringing. 

When Mont Blanc foretells the day ; 
And the breeze of morning bringing 
Mountain chime and mountain lay! 

‘Then once more, with rapture glowing. 
All that mountain land I hail. 

But my heart with joy o’erflowing, 
Lingers in that beauteous vale. 

‘Oh ! Chamouni, sweet Chamouni, 
Oh ! Chamonni’s sweet vale.’” 


118 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


“ Many thanks ! Isn’t it strange what effect those 
delicately fine vibrations have on one’s emotional 
nature ? You couldn’t have made a selection more 
completely in harmony with my spirit. Your 
touch, as well as your voice is rich in promises for 
your future, Virginia. I think my choice of insti- 
tution for your development in music, as well as 
everything else, is a wise one. I do hope it will please 
you. I presume aunt Mary has told you all about 
it, and that she is to return, in company with us, to 
America. So both of you must have all your 
arrangements completed for the voyage by the time 
I get back from Paris. I have an interesting friend 
there I promised to see before sailing for home, 
which is only two weeks off. I will give full 
directions to aunt Mary to-night, and will see you 
again. As I am obliged to attend to some business 
down town before four o’clock, you will please ex- 
cuse me for the present.” 

Let me see ; it is already quarter past three, and 
I must make haste before Mr. Hamilton closes his, 
office. 

How the hours go by when one is absorbed in 
anything new and unusually interesting ! That 
girl, Virginia, is, to me, both of these. My ideal, 
formed from what I had heard, is far below the 
real, living, tangible personality. I will not attempt 
to give a word-picture of what she is. Some things 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


119 


are impossible. This is one of them. That brow, 
face, and voice tell more than words. 

Here I am again in a reverie concerning another 
girl. Hadn’t 1 better put down brakes at once, or 
I’ll never get that estate settled up, or even across 
the British channel. 



120 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTEK XVI. 

Another day lias come and gone, and all the 
papers and legal formulae pertaining to aunt’s es‘ 
tate and my guardianship of Virginia, are finished, 
and to-morrow I shall turn my face towards Paris. 
Had I better telegraph Miss Bertha, so that she’ll 
anticipate me, or take her by su prise ? The latter, 
were it not for the possibility of her being out on 
my arrival. A telegram shall go out to-night. 
How invaluable those electric pulsations! In an 
hour she’ll know my will ; not exactly that, but of 
my visit. I guess the news will sort of surprise her, 
for I only made a conditional promise. I don’t 
know whether I was peculiarly impressible the last 
evening I spent with Bertha or not. That I was 
impressed, I am sure. Wonder how it will be when 
I meet her this time? I’ll analyze causes of extra 
agitation. She must be their possessor. Useless to 
conjecture now. Affinities of some sort, anyhow. 
This will be agreeable and most profitable investiga- 
tion. Their precise character must be known before 
many more setting suns. 

Whew ! eleven o’clock ! I must retire, and yet I 
am not drowsy. My nerves are sort of unstrung to- 
night. I seem to startle at the least noise. Why is 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


121 


this? The subject I liave been mentally contem- 
I)lating should have had an opposite effect. Another 
enigma! Unseen influences somewhere near me. 
I presume there are certain conditions of the emo- 
tional and nerve centres at the back of most phe- 
nomena. This may account for many of those 
strange sounds and sights we hear of 

Apparitions are traceable to some abnormal 
condition, no doubt. We know they have made 
impressions on the minds of many men and women 
at certain jieriods of their lives. Wliy not on 
mine ? 

Superstition has survived tlie shocks of time and 
the dazzling glory of knowledge, and to-day, as of 
yore, it musters an army under every government 
beneath tlie sun. Tradition still wields a jiower 
almost invincible, and the hoary-headed sage, or the 
prattling child, transmits, as did his sires before him, 
the story of strange sights and sounds, associated 
with some portion of somebody’s history. The more 
marvellous these stories are, the more charming and 
fascinating, or the more terrible and impressive they 
are to the young; and thus, in early life, imagina- 
tion is given wings to soar into the darkness and 
the unknown. Truth welcomes light, but error 
clings fondly to those who will not bear reason’s 
rays of revelation. 

Nor are the eccentricities of thought and illusion 
confined to the vacillating class of minds, nor to 

9 


122 


REVERIES OF A YOUXG MAN 


the illiterate. In hict, the most striking illustrations 
are to be found among men and women of the 
highest endowments. Shakespeare says : 

“ I think it is the weakness of mine eyes 
That shapes this monstrous apparition.” 

Had he said, “ it is the weakness of my mental 
vision,” he would have come closer to the truth. As 
I view the subject, apparitions only put in an appear- 
ance when the powers of conception have swung 
out of their natural orbits. The strange and won- 
derful figures which stand before us as real, after all, 
have only an inferior and subjective existence. 
They are the sparks of excited conceptions, magnified 
into bewitching forms and terrible monsters. When 
they represent the former, I feel at home ; when 
the latter, I would rather be out. How unfortunate 
that one cannot decree the kind! I believer in 
sparks, too, if they come in quality and jilace to 
suit me. I have known a few girls, strange as it 
may appear, with the same belief; still apparitions 
come and go as the currents move. Sometimes they 
in form are angels and departed s[)irits, and these 
figure more largely than other objects of sight. 
From the same cause, landscapes, mountains, rivers, 
lakes, precipices, festivals, armies, funeral proces- 
sions, horses, chariots and temples seem to pass 
before the physical sight. 

Hearing and touch, also, marshal their subjects. 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


123 


growing out of the overwrought faculties of the 
mind. At times we seem to hear sounds, and feel 
touches when stillness reigns and all motion is in 
repose. If my discoveries are safe guides, such 



APPARITIONS : UNDER A SPELL. 

manifestations are more frequently seen among 
children than adults, as their minds are more sus- 
ceptible and easily influenced. In youth these phe- 
nomena come less frequently, and as age creeps on 
apparitions are rarely witnessed. 


124 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


Query once more in the reader’s mind, perchance 
you ask, “How are apparitions and all these things 
to aid you in finding a wife? ” I answer, they are 
a personal investigation as to influences which con- 
trol the mind or heart, which being so often mis- 
taken for the real, I want to parry off the possible 
dangers which might environ me, and which 230ssibly 
have already in some degree. If true love is not al- 
ways visible to the physical sense of sight or hearing, 
one must weigh and analyze the phenomena of mind 
and emotion, under different influences, if he would 
reach exact results from given causes. 

I may be forced to take some alloy with that inde- 
finable something, called by the world a wife, but by 
me, a mate; yet I am now almost persuaded, by 
both synthesis and analysis of the chief elements 
in this comj^lex creature, that I will strike ere long 
an unerring lead to some dear girl of fully twenty- 
four-carat fine. 

These eccentricities of mind, under abnormal 
conditions, it is well for me to understand. If the 
fires which illuminate the conceptive faculties are 
the sources of many of the mysteries of life, it is 
well for one to keep in view the exact chai’acter and 
conditions of the inflammables. 

If I would have my deduction sound, I must 
move with all the light which science can supply. 
Observation and experience show that as one grows 
older these periods of hallucination are, if not less 


IN QUEST OF A AVIFE. 


125 


frequent, if the fires are not so brilliant, the flames 
are more mild and uniform. If the laws of affinity 
are to he my guide, I do not wish to mistake them 
for something else, and find myself as one in a boat 
in mid-ocean, with neither compass, oar nor rudder. 
Judgment, if it be the reflex of research, thought and 
observation, rarely is at fault. Though young in 
years, I wish such to guide me. Some would call the 
path I am travelling “ thorny ; ” I don’t. It is to me a 
source of increasing pleasure. I feel that my success 
once assured, those who come after me will have a joy- 
ous time. The vagaries of mind must be understood. 
Our inward conceptions must be projected into out- 
ward space. If one would keep youth of mind as 
well as heart, it is well, perhaps, to allow imagina- 
tion at times to have full sway. I have permitted it, 
and such excursions have not been unproductive. 
Flocks of sheep, clusters of trees, and varieties of 
landscape in the chaiiging clouds, in the wreathed 
and driven snow, in the fairy work of frost, and the 
embers and flickering flames of the hearth ; all these 
are beautiful thought-pictures. They are often 
outlined in the dome of the poet’s mind. Cowper 
says : 

“iVIeoft has fancy, ludicrous and wild, 

Soothed with a waking dream of houses, towers. 

Trees, churches and strange visages expressed 
In the red cinders, while with poring eyes 
I gazed, myself creating what I saw.” 


126 . 


Rj:VERrES OF A YOUNG MAN 


Beattie too, after the termination of a winter’s 
storm, places his young minstrel on the shores of 
the Atlantic, to view the heavy clouds that skirt the 
distant horizon : 

“ Where, ’midst tlie changeful scenery ever new, 

Fancy a thousand wondrous forms descrie.s. 

More wildly great than ever pencil drew ; 

Rock, torrents, gulfs, and shapes of giant’s size. 

And glittering cliffs on cliffs, and fiery ramparts rise.” 

Love, they say, is blind. That’s not the kind I 
am seeking ; and yet ’tis well to know, if the higher 
type of love does not veil or magnify one’s vision. 
The magician’s power to make one see, and even 
hear, that which is not, should make me pause. 
Do not some women possess more than a wizard’s 
secrets to hold spell-bound, to dazzle, and illusions 
form ? We know conceptions may be excited, 
though but transitory in effect, through fear, love, 
hatred, or jealousy. Nay, more, that intenseness 
of thought, coupled with an all-absorbing desire of 
or for any jiarticular object, will create a view as 
impressive on the senses as the real. The object 
appears as if photographed on the eye’s retina. 

These idiosyncrasies of the mind show me the 
importance of methodical and systematic examin- 
ation of complex women, if I would avoid the ir- 
reparable errors of the multitude, who have wrecked 
their hopes, and even lives on the connubial sea. 

These illusions have the same origin, no doubt, as 


127 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 



ff 


I5Y jove! onk hour past midnight, 


128 


revp:rie.s of a youxo man 


the somids wliicli aroused Robinson Crusoe from Ids 
sleep, when there was no one on the solitary island 
but himself ; they are the sounds we often hear in 
forests wild, in mountain glen, or placid lake, or the 
prairie air : 

“The airy tongues that syllable men’s names, 

On shores, in desert sands, and wilderness.” 

Knowing once fully the origin of the various 
phantoms through which both men and women have 
been induced to barter their all, is it not clear that 
it is made possible for me to find a being whose 
union with my spirit would be ratified in Heaven ? 
It must be apparent to the most casual reader, that 
I am, at last, gradually becoming better qualified 
to make a diagnosis of the interesting subjects now 
in view. It may be that pursuit is more pleasurable 
than possession. By Jove ! one hour past midnight, 
and no sleep yet. Into the embrace of Morpheus I 
commit myself. Of Paris and Bertha shall I dream 
to-night? 



IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


]29 


CHAPTER XVII. 

I AM real glad I came ! If the world is not on 
wheels, I, at least, must be. It seems but an 
hour since I surrendered myself to the god of 
dreams, and already am I in gay, festive, wonderful 
Paris. What a recuperative people ! Only a few 
years ago and they were “ in sackcloth and ashes.” 
To-day, proud, imperial and dazzling as ever. Well 
may they feel a glory in this centre of romance, 
letters, fashion, business and patriotism. I feel re- 
paid in what I have seen already, and but a glimjise 
as yet. Lucky am I to have such comfortable 
quarters. The “ Hotel de Lafayette ” is just elegant. 
In an hour Miss Clarke will return from her drive 
on the famous Boulevard, and I must prepare my 
toilet ere her arrival. Who accompanies her? It 
might be a fellow more impressive than I. Wouldn’t 
be astonished a bit, for she is the kind to set young 
men to angling. Some dashing men here; might 
not she get Hurried also ? I’ll make soundings 
while I’m right at hand. Bertha appeared quite 
frank herself, and yet these girls parry so well that 
I have but little idea she 11 tell half she knows. It 
may be none of my business, she may think. That 
depends. Ask no questions now. Later I’ll see 


130 


EEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


and know more. I was rather pleased with Bertha’s 
father. In what light did he view me ? There’ll 
be a little more reason now, perchance, for him to 
think. I’ll put on my prettiest when I meet them ; 
not that I’d dissimulate, but it’s business with me 
this time. Should I not have said science, in its 
practical application to the phenomena of life? 
To me, Bertha is a puzzle yet. I’ll unravel it now 
if philosophy will avail. 

We are told that the difference between the time 
of man’s noticing an event and that of its actual 
occurrence is called his “ personal equation.” Hence 
the magnitude of one’s personal equipoise indicates 
a fundamental peculiarity of the constitution of that 
particular individual. This conclusion is not in 
conflict with reason and general experience of man- 
kind, even when isolated from the sphere of 
astronomy or the realm of philosophy. Brilliant 
idea, this, and in harmony with my own observations. 
Yes, experience, which lies at the root of all science, 
has from time immemorial gauged or equated indi- 
vidual character. I’ll equate Bertha’s and all the 
other girls, before I am through. Then I’ll equate 
my own. When a perfect balance is found between 
myself and any other one, I’ll know that harmony 
would reign between such two. 

We know there are quick-witted people, and 
slow-witted people, and, therefore, nothing startling 
in the fact, that the pace of mind may be measured 


IN QUEST OF A AVIFE. 


131 


by inches and a clock. “As quick as thought,” 
is an expression frequently heard, but how quick 
that is, is as variable as the pulsations of the human 
heart. Yet the pulsations are accurately measured, 
and the conditions of the mind and body equated. 
Not that health requires to register one invariable 
and uniform number of pulsations per minute, for 
all persons alike, but that the temperament, occupa- 
tion, climate, habits, etc., all considered, a general 
required average of each individual should be 
known, as an index to health or happiness. 

And if I am logical thus far, the same principle 
must apply to the individual motion of the body, 
which is recognized as “ the gait ” of this or that 
one. Will not intimate acquaintance with any one 
soon furnish reliable knowledge of this peculiarity? 
Yes, it has been so clearly demonstrated as to enable 
one familiar with the gait, to recognize at a distance, 
a person’s “ foot-fall ” after many years of absence. 
Here I see, sound, in lieu of sight, is actually 
equated. If time enter into the composition of all 
things in the material world, is it not clearly within 
the range of possibilities, to establish every man’s 
and every woman’s equation in each distinctive par- 
ticular which goes to make up physical, intellectual, 
moral and spiritual character? Nay, more, is it 
not within the range of my achievements to gauge 
precisely the negative and positive qualities of some 
“dear little buttercup” as much like my own as 


132 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


two peas in a pod ? “ Floated in some cove again ! ” 

you say. Perhaps I have. Reveries are such freaks 
of mine that one knows not always where he is. 

I am presentable now, I guess. Bertha has surely 
returned before this. I’ll send up to her room my 
card. ’Tis gone, and I await an answer. I hear the 
messenger on his return. A note from Miss Clarke, 
saying, “Your presence will be most welcome; 
father and I both await you.” The old gentleman 
on hand ; just as Bertha said, “ papa is so considerate 
in all that concerns me.” That’s highly proper, 
for it shows value, something worthy paternal in- 
terest. Three are well enough for company, hardly 
the thing when one would wish to speak without 
restraint. No time for musings now, for they’ll 
grow impatient. Well here I am, tapping on their 
door. 

“ How happy, Mr. AVilloughby, I am to see you, 
and you must remember quite well my father, who 
joins with me in giving you welcome. We have 
often spoken of you while we have been in Paris. 
How have you been since we parted ? ” 

“ Quite well, I thank you ; I am delighted to meet 
you both, and find you looking so bright ; I hope 
you have had a pleasant time. You do well to take 
drives such charming afternoons as this one has 
been.” 

“ Yes, Mr. Willoughby, papa and I both agree 
exactly on one thing, and that is, the importance of 


IN QUEST OF A AVIFE, 


133 


sunlight, open air, and change of scenery, and a 
drive just takes these all in. This afternoon we 
had royal company, and that is even better than 



BERTHA WRITES, “FATHER AND I AWAIT YOU.” 

change of scenery. Don’t you think it is, some- 
times ? ” 

“ Miss Bertha, 1 think occasionally that is the 


134 


REVERIES OF A YOUXG MAN 


case. My memory is not wholly barren of such 
effects ; one event, at least, I can readily call to mind. 
I was studying astronomy one night at sea, and the 
sudden presence of a bright spirit was better than 
a change of scenery. I have often thought of it 
since. It wasn’t a ‘white star,’ exactly, but on a 
vessel christened such, though. Can you catch my 
thought. Miss Bertha ? ” 

“ Quite clearly, Mr. Willoughby, but you have 
such an odd way of conveying it. That characteristic 
is what particularly interested me in you. I like 
new things and new ways of saying and doing them. 
Papa calls me an oddity. Was that your first im- 
pression ? ” 

“ The truth is Miss Bertha, I had so many im- 
pressions, under such variable influences, that they 
got sort of mixed. Have you ever had them come 
that way ? ” 

“Your oddity to the front, again Mr. Willoughby ; 
I like it, but your question sort of tangles me.” 

“How well you interpret one’s mind. Miss Bertha ; 
I am so glad to hear you say that, for the simple 
reason it is a necessity, inseparably connected with 
my present mission.” 

“Another problem, Mr. Willoughby. What in- 
terpreting or reading the mind can have to do with 
your mission is more than a quandary. I teetotally 
fail to comprehend your mission ; can’t you remove 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


135 


the mist ? I am getting anxious, even curious, to 
know.’* 

“I think. Miss Bertha, that you can divine that 
yourself after awhile, when we have known each 
other longer. It certainly would not be in good 
taste to divulge it now, anyhow. So, be considerate 
of my natural diffidence. I hope to have you in- 
terpret, and, if I mistake not, you do even now, 
better than I. And my power is through science ; 
yours, like a clear flowing stream, leaps naturally 
over pebbles, rocks, and all obstructions ; you are 
sort of a natural ])sychologist, and that is the oil 
and essence of truth combined.” 

“ You elate me, Mr. Willoughby.” 

“ Not intentionally so. Miss Bertha ; I only convey 
in candor my readings of your mind. In fact, as I 
read the material and mind world, no one within her- 
self or himself can claim any special credit for such 
gifts. They are endowments which come to us without 
our volition, and hugely from external influences, 
acting upon the internal receptacles, — called mind, 
and emotional organism. So far as we can by study 
and investigation make these inward forces more 
receptive to such influences, we are entitled to credit, 
and that we never fail to receive. The increased 
joy we experience through these organisms, more 
than compensates for the labor it cost.” 

“ I follow your thoughts, Mr. Willoughby ; and 
do you know I have many times had similar ones 


136 


KEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAX 


of the same character. People’s minds run parallel 
sometimes, even when they are widely distant from 
each other. Don’t you think so, Mr. Willoughby ? ” 


MEETING BERTHA IN PARIS 



“ I not only think so, Bertha, but I know so, and 
could cite many proofs as illustrating it. I believe 
in affinity of thought, too, and can supply evi- 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


137 


dences of that also, so marked as to be beyond 
refutation. If time allowed, these I would give 
now. Hope we may have another opportunity 
to take up the subject before I return to London.” 

“When will that be, Mr. Willoughby?” 

“I promised aunt to return by Saturday, and 
that allows me but one day after to-morrow.” 

“ I am so sorry you can’t stay longer. As your 
time is so short I guess it mainly belongs to me 
while you are here, for I have much to say and 
many things to ask. Now that papa has gone down 
in the parlor to meet a gentleman waiting there, 
you will pardon my seeming coldness. I wanted to 
drop the prefix to your name, and you to do the 
same. Papa might have regarded it as a little too 
familiar. You don’t, do you ? I rather like the 
ease with which we can speak when it is only 
Frank or Bertha. It makes one feel more social, a 
little closer to each other.” 

“You express my feelings exactly, Bertha, but 
it’s best to show proper deference to our honored 
sires. I trust we may have a little company of our 
own — that is, two, instead of three, and then we can 
speak as spirit may direct. This call has been a de- 
light to me, and if agreeable I will see you at 2 p.m. 
to-morrow. I must take in some views this evening, 
as chance may offer. Good-night, and pleasant 
thoughts be with you.” 


10 


138 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

It is now 11.30 p.m., and haven’t I had a day and 
night of bewildering scenes and incidents! Bertha 
seemed as bewitching as ever, and her father, how 
appreciative and entertaining. He thinks that 
daughter a rare composition, and well he should, for 
she is a pearl of the first water. Rarely have I 
met one so naturally responsive. Her intuition, 
quick perception, and easy grasp of thought sur- 
prised me. Her mind seems sort of a “ Divining 
Rod,” within itself, for she readily locates the cur- 
rents that are to the eye invisible. 

As to Paris, to say that my ideas were crude, 
would be putting it mild. As seen by gas-light, it 
is a wonderful presentation of restless humanity ; 
as revealed by the additional illumination which 
the electric light supplies, the pen becomes palsied 
when one essays to describe it. Everything which 
the ingenuity of man can devise, construct, chisel, 
or paint, are here, as monuments of the present and 
past generations. Literature, art and science are 
visible everywhere. Virtue and vice, wealth and 
poverty, as in London, make striking contrasts of 
the conditions of men, women and children. Pre- 
cisely where to draw the line between happiness and 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


139 


misery, would be as difficult as to tell where one 
color begins and the other ends in a rainbow. The 
general effect of this is agreeable ; not so with one 
of the extremes of society here. In all, however, 
there is apparent the restless spirit of this people. 
The large foreign and floating population here from 
all parts of the world, gives the city a cosmopolitan 
character clearly discernible. Of course, I have 
seen but little yet, still such are my impressions 
from what I have witnessed, and so I jot them 
down. To-morrow I shall know more and should 
be wiser, but knowledge does not always give 
understanding. The Book of Inspiration asks : 

“ Who is the wise man? and who knoweth the in- 
terpretation of a thing ? for a man’s wisdom maketh 
his face to shine.” Would that mine receive such 
illumination, as I gather in lessons from this centre 
into which have flown for many ages, the laws, the 
customs and wisdom from the extremes of the earth. 

“Alexander wept, when he had no more worlds to 
conquer ; ” and so Bonaparte, at one time the idol 
of France, was sorely grieved because he could not 
rule the world. “ Man proposes, but God disposes ; ” 
so in the fulness of time, came Napoleon’s Waterloo. 
Prayer, even, would not avail when its spirit was 
against the God of Battles. 

How little the multitude comprehend the signifi- 
cance of that little word — prayer. 11 is either a 
myth or a sublime reality. If a reality, what are 


140 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 






IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


141 


its operations ? From the dogmas of theology, 
is led to conclude that God is ever changing and 
changeable ; that the winds have their courses al- 
tered, their temperature of heat and cold increased 
or decreased, moisture or dryness produced, clouds 
formed and scattered, and even the whole laws 
which hold planets in their orbits, set aside or re- 
pealed, on the petition of one or more persons. 
That the Omniscient will reverse His original pur- 
pose and decrees to subserve some individual or 
collective interests, be it drouth, excessive rains, or 
any one of the million of local or general calami- 
ties. Answers to such petitions would no doubt 
be often very convenient and satisfactory to some, 
and directly the opposite to others. Heat and cold, 
winter and summer, day and night, come and go in 
obedience to fixed and natural laws. These changes 
all take place in their appointed time, and they only 
vary according to natural laws. Prayer will not and 
cannot overturn that which is fixed and immutable. 
All these exhibitions of wisdom are a part of God’s 
will made manifest toman. Why, then, should Iso 
belittle the conceptions of a Deity as to teach the 
thought that He knows not His own will, but fluctu- 
ates in His purposes as finite man may dictate or 
suggest? Do I deny the efficacy of prayer? No. 
Do I assert that prayer is never answered ? No. Do 
I believe that God is indifferent to those things 
which concern the children of men ? No. 


142 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


I would exalt man’s conception of the Infinite, 
by showing that He, and He alone, is infallible and 
cannot err. Prayer is efficacious in this way. That 
it subdues our carnal desires, chases from mind and 
heart impure thoughts, and exalts us while appeal- 
ing to and contemplating the boundless intelligence 
and goodness of Jehovah. Its efficacy is in the fact, 
that we are brought into closer communion with a 
higher life and transcendent glories. 

In this way, prayer is responded to. If our ap- 
peals for light and guidance are the sincere yearn- 
ings of the heart, the efficacy of prayer is realized 
as the first result. The second state and condition 
of mind and heart, are mental and spiritualillumi- 
nations, by and through which we see, know, and 
understand that which before was midnight darkness, 
or a cloud of impenetrable mist. Thus our concep- 
tions are quickened, our grasp of thought enlarged, 
and our hearts and arms are nerved to achieve the 
seemingly impossible things prior to the acts of 
prayer. If the cause is for and in the right, this 
illumination follows, and its enlargement of the 
range of vision enables the leader of men and armies 
to march forward to victory. Right makes might 
and a “ God of battles,” whether in the field, in the 
workshop, the home circle, the counting-room or the 
sanctuary. This to my mind is a rational answer 
to prayer; nay, more! It is the diffusion of the 
principle, that we are only lifted up, as we seek for 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE 


143 


light through the revelations of God in His various 
kingdoms. This conception of prayer is in complete 
accord with inspiration ; it even illustrates it, and 
the idea of endless progression and immortality. 

Soliloquizing again! Sweet spirit! hear my 
prayer for the sweet solace of unbroken sleep. 



144 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER XIX. 

A WEALTHY and well-known Parisian, I am told, 
has had himself painted by an eminent artist, “As 
he was,” “As he is,” and “As he will be.” Not a 
bad idea, that — why not follow suit? “As I was,” 
say at the age of ten ; “As I am,” -at the age of 
twenty-nine ; “As I will be,” that’s the stickler. — 
Don’t know that, myself If I find and succeed in 
capturing what I am after, “As I will be,” by the aid 
of a vivid imagination, might be painted; or, possibly, 
even if I fail in winning such a prize, a forecast 
might be made showing me, “As a bachelor,” say at 
fifty. Carefully considered, the enterprise would be 
premature. I certainly have prospects too bright 
just now to think of such a thing as bachelorhood. 
Too many cheering signs of affinity, even with less 
than a dozen girls for demonstration. And Bertha 
Clarke is wonderful in such manifestations ; and this 
afternoon I am again to be charmingly entertained, 
and receive more light regarding the subtle infiu- 
ences which have given me so much encouragement 
in my quest for a wife. Till then I’ll take more of 
Paris in. What specialty shall it be? Why not 
take the Fine Arts? These are more in unison with 
the general current of my thoughts, and really right 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


145 


in the line of my explorations. Proceeding as I do, 
‘‘ wife hunting” is joretty near kin to a fine art. 

The aesthetic and intellectual enjoyment of wit- 
nessing one’s own creation on canvas or in stone, is 
probably among the superlative pleasures of this 
life. The monetary reward is but a small tribute 
to either genius or art talent. The inherent love of 
the beautiful, and the consequent striving to attain 
it, are what make the galleries of art and beautiful 
homes. Taste is a jierception of intellectual pleas- 
ure within itself. Beauty, the object of taste and 
source of pleasure, becomes potent in its influence, 
just in proportion as we are able to approximate the 
true ideal — Nature — with pencil, brush, or chisel. 
There is a sort of charm which broods over one’s 
labor, when the objective is a reproduction of life in 
some, even if not in all its parts. Flowers, woods, 
mountains, lakes and rivulets are excellent subjects 
for the easel, no doubt ; still they exhibit non-intel- 
lectual creation. 

As my time in Paris is limited, it is best for me 
to take in the intellectual order of creation as here 
exhibited in sculpture. It is here I find real or 
typical human characters, as seen in life and death, 
in peace and war, in victory and defeat. Of all the 
imitative arts, one is led to believe that sculpture 
was one of the first to call into exercise the thought 
and ingenuity of mankind. The production of 
tangible forms, corresponding to the reality, would 


146 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


seem to be the most natural way to imitate nature. 
We see manifold evidences of this, in the rude 
carvings on the spear-shaft or canoe of the Indian, 
and that these exhibitions of his skill surpass all 



FINE ARTS IN PARIS : IN A SCULPTURE GALLERY. 


others. The history of sculpture, therefore, dates 
back to a time almost coeval with the earliest forma- 
tion of society. The chronology of ancient empires 
sustains this opinion. All the kindred arts, with 
which taste and feeling are mingled, have their birth 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


147 


and subsequent improvement in the same universal 
principle of the human mind ; principles mysterious 
and powerful in the achievement of the greatest 
good to the human race. Endowed with these, man 
seeks now, as in the long time ago, the haunts of 
nature, to gather the great lessons of truth and in- 
spiration which she furnishes. Feasting on these, 
his untutored mind is kindled as with a new life, 
and his soul drinks from inexhaustible fountains. 
Thus by communing with the Great Architect, 
through His models, he aspires to imitate the work 
of His hands. 

Handed down for us to enjoy are the art creations 
of those who have gone before. Among the many 
attractive forms of sculpturing I have seen to-day, 
I mention these: Reconciliation, Courage, Love, 
Anger, Humility, Gratitude, Admiration, Faith, 
Hope, Charity, Patriotism, Friendship, Devotion. 
These attributes or virtues, I witnessed both in stone 
and brass. Each one was suggestive or rem in dative 
of something within my own history, character, or 
that of some one else. I thought of Ada, Clara, 
Florence, Josie, Gertrude, Virginia and Bertha, 
while looking at these chisellings, and wondered as 
to how much of any one of these attributes or vir- 
tues, each one of these girls possessed. I thought 
how fortunate that I made choice of such a subject. 
Why, it will be invaluable to me when I begin to 
make up that personal equation idea I was talking 


148 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


about; and, from my present reckonings, I think 
simple equation, in itself, will not cover my subjects. 
No ; each one will have to be a case of compound 
personal equation ; that is, an average of the debit 
qualities on one side, and an average of the credit 
qualities on the other side ; and, finally, the mean or 
combined average. That’s the ticket, exactly, that 
I’ll travel on. Quite a cue I’ve got. Now this, 
added to my knovvledge of the laws of affinity, is 
quite a boon in my prospective matrimonial stock. 
Capital, “ old boy ! ” and don’t you lose the key. 

Here, also, I see a classic figure of mythology ; 
it is Niobe, who was the daughter of Tantalus, and 
wife of Amphion, king of Thebes. Proud of her 
numerous offspring, she provoked the anger of 
Apollo and Diana, who slew them all. She was 
herself changed by Jupiter into a rock, from which 
a rivulet, fed by her tears, continually poured. This 
story, like many legends and fables, is very pretty, 
and shows the ideal and imaginative power of the 
minds of past ages. 

What hour does my chronometer show? Jupiter! 
just quarter of two, and only ten minutes to get 
ready to see Bertha. Lively, now 1 Punctuality is 
the jewel in appointments. I am chronic on that. 
Bertha shan’t complain, anyhow. Jerusalem I 
nothing like hustling. I am O.K. and three minutes 
to spare ! 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


149 


Tapping now softly on the door. Here she 
comes ! 

“ Well, Frank! walk right in ; I have been sort 
of wondering if you hadn’t got lost in this strange 
city. If you had been late, I’d surely have been 
worried about you. I am ever so glad you saved 
me that suspense.” 

“ Bertha, I had no idea that I was worth any 
special anxiety ; you surely compliment me. I got 
along swimmingly, and have made good use of 
every hour since I saw you yesterday ; and I 
couldn’t begin to tell you a hundredth part of what 
I have seen ; and I am indebted to you for it all.” 

“How so, Frank? I havn’t acted as escort, 
pioneer, marshal, interpreter or anything else, since 
you came.” 

“ I’ll tell you, Bertha. Didn’t you give me the 
pressing invitation to visit Paris ? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Well, that covers it all.” 

“ Surely, Frank, if you regard me in the light of 
a benefactress in respect to your visit, I am most 
happy. If I interpret correctly my own feelings, 
however, there is a full reciprocity of indebtedness 
to you, for I couldn’t begin to tell you how much 
you have enlivened my spirits since you came. I 
suppose there are such things as involuntary re- 
sponses between people that’s not always expressed. 
Have you ever thought that way ? ” 


150 


llEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAX 


“You struck the right key that time, Bertha. 
You know I am quite an apostle of the doctrine of 
affinities, and your remark is but another confirma- 
tion of both my theory and experience. The simple 
presence of some people makes sunshine ; while 
others bring nothing but gloom, even if they do not 
utter a word ; and the effects are instantaneous. 
What better evidence can we have of attraction and 
repulsion, as natural laws between minds and souls? 
You’ll pardon me, Bertha, if I seem to enthuse a 
little on the subject, for great issues are at stake in 
connection with its complete demonstration ; even 
to a revolution as to my condition in life. It, in 
fact, has everything to do with my j)resent mission, 
and in Paris, perhaps, even more than some other 
places. Now, Bertha, by putting this, and what I 
said when we met before, together, you may possibly 
have an answer to your query on that occasion.” 

“Oh! Frank, you are a mystery, and there is a 
charm about mysteries sometimes. There is more 
than a little of it about this one. How dull I am 
in expression ; you will be able, I hope, to catch 
one ray, at least, of my meaning.” 

“ Bless your dear heart, I catch all the rays, and 
they sort of thrill me with emotion. Who comes, 
Bertha ? I hear some one in the hall.” 

“ Papa, Frank, and with company, too.” 

“ How kind he was, not to disturb us before.” 

“ Happy to see you again, Mr. Willoughby ; allow 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


151 


me to introduce you to my good friend — Charles 
Mayhew, and his daughter Urania, and son Eugene. 
You may have some knowledge of his father, who 
was a noted astronomer in his day. They say 
Urania resembles her grandfather very much. I 
never come to Paris without seeing them, for they 
are very dear people. Urania and Bertha and 
Eugene have been much together since we came. 
They have added so much to our pleasure through 
many elegant drives. The afternoon of your 
arrival, Eugene and Urania were with us on the 
boulevard. Urania has a rich voice, and I know 
she will favor us with something that will please 
you, while Bertha plays a piano accompaniment. 
AVon’t you Urania ? ” 

“ If it be your pleasure, Mr. Clarke, and Mr. 
Willoughby can endure it.” 

“ That is superlatively grand ! almost divine / 
Miss Mayhew, what a range your voice has ; and 
so rich in its symphonies, too — a complete con- 
sonance of harmonies ; and Miss Bertha, — how 
perfect her accomjianiment ; not a discord through- 
out.” 

“ Mr. ATilloughby, you are too lavish in your 
praise ; I guess to Bertha, mainly belongs the 
credit, if any is due.” 

“ It may be. Miss Urania, that to you, .my ex- 
pressions may appear somewhat enthusiastic, but 
they accord fully with my feelings. Good music 


152 


REVERIES OF A YOUMO MAN 


always exalts me; and there is nothing to be com- 
pared, after all, with with the human voice. T hope. 



Frank’s introdociion to riiE mayhews. 


Miss Mayhew, the jileasure may be afforded me of 
seeing and hearing you again before leaving Paris.” 
“ When will that be, Mr. Willoughby? ” 

‘‘ To-morrow afternoon I leave for London to com- 


IN QUEST OP A WIFE. 


153 


plete arrangements there, prior to taking the ‘ City 
of London,’ for America. My aunt, Mrs. Mellville, 
and Miss Virginia Creighton are to return with me.” 

“ Well, Mr. Willoughby, as your time is so short, 
why can’t you call at our house, and spend this 
evening with papa and me? We will endeavor to 
entertain you.” 

“Yes, Mr. Willoughby, I accord fully with my 
little Urania’s idea, and shall be most happy to have 
you with us to-night.” 

“ You are both very kind. If you give directions 
so that I’ll not get lost, I shall be pleased to call ; 
say, eight o’clock, if agreeable.” 

“ This card, Mr. Willoughby, will lead you right ; 
and be sure and don’t disappoint us. Now, Bertha, 
you must not get Mr. Willoughby so wrapped up 
in some of your fascinating theories that he’ll forget 
the hour.” 

“Not for the world, Mr. Mayhew, though, had 
it been any other place, I would certainly have pro- 
tested ; for Frank’s time I have considered as 
mainly belonging to me, while on this brief visit.” 

“Regret I cannot prolong the pleasure of this 
meeting, but having several letters to write for the 
first out-going mail, and a telegram to send aunt 
Mary, — I must say good afternoon, in the hope of 
seeing you all again soon.” 


11 


154 


EEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER XX. 

Fresh developments each day since in Paris. 
Little thought that I’d add such an interesting trio 
to my catalogue of new friends. Mr. Mayhew is 
just the style of man I like, so easy and home- 
like in his manner, and his son Eugene is a 
splendid-looking fellow, and Urania is really 
superb, the central figure of that household, I am 
sure. I know I’ll have a splendid time this even- 
ing, and perhaps Urania will sing again, and that 
alone will carry me into the realms of bliss — 
Getting in a reverie again — it won’t do ; I must 
write those letters and send the telegram to aunt. A 
letter to Clara must first be written, and then, one to 
my dear father and mother, and those two indepen- 
dent sisters of mine. I guess I’ll write a sort of fam- 
ily letter, to all four in one. They must be anxious 
by this time to hear from me. I do love to get let- 
ters ; can’t say as much in regard to writing them. 

It is now 7 P.M. — had supper — letters and dis- 
patch are all gone, and only one hour and I’ll be at 
Mr. Mayhew’s house. They did not say that Eugene 
would be there. Urania said “ Spend the evening 
with papa and me.” How is it that Eugene 
Mayhew will not be there ? I wonder if he is to 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


155 


pass his time with Bertha ? It looks a little like it. 
I would give considerable to know. I’ll throw out 
“ feelers ” to-night. If he should, it will speak well 
for Bertha’s taste ; but I can’t say that the thought 
exactly makes me comfortable. AVhy worry my 
mind ? I’ll have a good time, anyhow, with 
Eugene’s sister and the family. 

Here I am ringing the door-bell at the family 
mansion of the Mayhews, and it is just 8 o’clock. 
A servant comes, and my presence in the reception 
room is announced. 

“I am most happy that you have come, Mr. 
Willoughby, for papa and I have both talked much 
about you since we met at Bertha’s. You havn’t 
met mamma, so come right into the parlor, and I’ll 
introduce you, as she is anxious to meet you. Papa 
is also there.” 

“This is Mr. Willoughby, mamma, of whom I 
was speaking.” 

“ It gives me s[)ecial pleasure to meet you, Mr. 
Willoughby, for Urania has spoken pretty things 
of you, and these very naturally made me antici- 
pate this pleasure ; and then you know, whatever 
particularly interests her I could not pass over 
lightly. Urania is our only daughter, and she is 
full of mischief; her joys and troubles we unavoid- 
ably share with her in a greater or less degree. 
Your friend Bertha, too, is a dear good girl, and 
quite an attraction wherever she goes.” 


156 


EEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


“ Mrs. Mayhew, I can fully endorse all you have 
said as both natural and proper. While Bertha is a 
charming girl, Miss Urania will not suffer by com- 
parison. I beg your pardon ! I might have 
omitted that last remark while your daughter was 
so near ; she might possibly regard it as fulsome, 
though not so intended.” 

“ Mr. Willoughby, must you really leave Paris 
to-morrow ? ’’ 

“ Positively, Mr. Mayhew, and my time will be 
limited even then, as I have much to do before the 
steamer, on which I am to return home, leaves 
Liverpool.” 

“ Quite sorry your time is so short, Mr. Wil- 
loughby, but necessity, I suppose, knows no law 
but compliance with it. 

“Were you able to remain, if only for a few 
days, it would afford me considerable satisfaction to 
make you acquainted with many things of special 
note in Paris, and also with some of our many 
friends here.” 

“ Many thanks, Mr. Mayhew, should I ever be 
able to get here again, and such kindness be avail- 
able, I should only be too happy to profit by it.” 

“ I hope that will be very soon, Mr. Willoughby, 
and I know both mamma and papa second that wish. 
How dearly I would love to take a trip to America. 
I have been to Italy, and pretty much over the 
Continent, and I feel that the western world would 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 157 

be just the thing to take in. Papa has spoken fre- 
quently of going there ; wouldn’t it be grand if he 
could go now ? ” 

“ Capital idea, Mr. Mayhew ! Why couldn’t 
you and the family go over in the ‘ City of Lon- 
don ’ with us? We would make quite a party, 
and it is a most delightful season to cross the At- 
lantic. There would be a circle of our own. Aunt 
Mary, Virginia, Urania, Eugene, yourself, Mrs. 
Mayhew, and I, would just make seven, and they 
say that is a lucky number. What say you, Mr. 
Mayhew ? ” 

“ Mr. Willoughby, the idea comes upon me sort 
of abruptly, kind of sudden, but it strikes me not 
altogether as a bad one. It would be impossible, in 
any view of the case, for all to go. Certain busi- 
ness interests must be looked after, and these would 
require some one to be left here to do that. I don’t 
know but Urania’s mother might wish to go, and if 
so, she would be just the one to give life to the party. 
Eugene and I could go some other time. Mother 
and daughter are pretty well wrapped up in each 
other, and I know Urania would be in safe hands. 
Mrs. Mayhew, how would that suit you ? ” 

“ I would be delighted, but would like it so much 
better if all could go.” 

“ What say you, Urania, can you stay away 
from your papa that long, at one time ? ” 


158 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAX 


“ It will be a trial, papa, but I’ll endeavor to 
keep in good spirits.” 

“ All being agreed, Mr. Willoughby, you shall 
have company; we will join you on board the steamer 



FRANK AT THE HOME OF THE MAYHEWS. 

at Liverpool, and I hope you will take special care 
to have Urania learn all that is possible of the Atlan- 
tic and America. They will visit also my brother’s 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


159 


family in New Haven, that beautiful City of Elms, 
and great centre of education. He is one of the 
professors of science in ‘Yale College’ there, and 
I would like you to know him.” 

“ I am so happy you have seconded your daugh- 
ter’s thought, Mr. Mayhew, and that we are to have 
such royal company I shall esteem it an honor 
to make their trip pleasurable, and, to the best of 
my ability, instructive, and I shall write you im- 
mediately on arrival in New York, giving results 
of our voyage across.” 

“ Now, Miss Urania, won’t you give us some music 
in consideration of the favor which your papa has 
conferred upon us all ? ” 

“ I can’t refuse, Mr. Willoughby, as I am ^oo 
happy to say no to anything, just now. I’ll give 
you— 

WHY, NO ONE TO LOVE? 

No one to love in tliis beautiful world, 

Full of warm beans and bright beaming eyes ! 

Where is the lone heart that notliing can find 
That is lovely beneath the blue skies. 

No one to love ! No one to love ! 

Why, no one to love? 

What have you done in this beautiful world, 

That you’re sighing of “ no one to love ?” 

Dark is the soul that has nothing to dwell on 
How sad must its brightest hours prove! 

Lonely the dull brooding spirit must be 
That has no one to cherish and love. 

No one to love ! No one to love ! 

Why, no one to love? 


160 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


“ How soul-stirring ! those notes thrill one, and 
the state the words depict is made realistic and 
no mistake. Many thanks, Miss Urania ; you have 
conferred a favor that it will be impossible for me 
to return. How aunt and Virginia would be de- 
lighted to hear you! Won’t they be surprised 
when I tell them about you ?” 

“ I fear, Mr. Willoughby, that you will give 
them too high an idea of me, and that they will be 
disappointed when they see me, so be reserved 
in your remarks to them when I am the subject. 
You know it is better, at least for one to come up 
to the ideal than fall below it.” 

“ If that be your wish, Urania, of course, I will re- 
spect it, in deference to your desire, but it will put 
me under considerable restraint. 

“ Really, it is eleven o’clock I How pleasantly the 
hours have passed ; I would never tire with such sur- 
roundings, but the lateness makes it a necessity, — 
though with reluctance, for me to say to you all — 
good-by — yet with the cheering thought, that Urania 
and mother are to be with me on my homeward trip 
on the ‘ City of London.’ Happy dreams and 
pleasant memories be with you. Again, good-night 
to all.” 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


161 


CHAPTER XXI. 

Evidences unmistakable of some peculiar influ- 
ence which that girl, Urania, throws over me. What 
is its character? That’s the problem. In some 
respects it is similar to that which Bertha mani- 
fested ; in another sense it is wholly different. 
Bertha’s is more of matter and mind magnetism: 
Urania’s is replete with the soul and spirit essence. 
Her voice transports one to the principalities of celes- 
tial beings. Not quite as much scintillation of the 
world-mind, but prolific of the God-mind. In tem- 
perament she is rather more even than Virginia, 
and hardly so fluctuating. Her textures and fibres 
of organization seem to be of a finer mould than any 
one I have met yet. Her attractions do not come 
upon me in irresistible volume, but steadily grow 
more vivid the more I see and hear her. I guess 
the kind of flame that grows brighter the longer we 
see and know it. What a good chance I’ll have to 
study her while I am on the sea. I do hope we 
will have favorable winds and bright skies to keep 
us company. Her father sort of made me her 
monitor as to information of the ocean and America. 
This will be a most acceptable post for me to fill. 
When I think of it — I’ll have my hands full. 


162 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAX 


There are both Virginia and Aunt, and Urania and 
lier mother, to look after. J erusalem ! how shall I 
arrange matters so there’ll be no conflict? I can’t 
be with all of them at once. To make successful my 
main quest, I’ll have to parcel their time some way 
systematically. I wish to know more of Virginia’s 
history, her early childhood life, her parentage and 
ancestry ; and no time must be lost while on board 
the “ City of London.” Urania and I must be 
alone to understand one another. My meetings 
with her thus far have been under the restraint of 
others present, and our conversation necessarily 
could not give either an opportunity to know the 
natural currents of mind or heart. It has been 
pretty much the same as to Virginia. I’ll organize 
a system, and trust to chance for opportunities to put 
it into operation. I have established certain data, 
and these will materially aid me. This return voy- 
age may be, for aught I know, the one great event 
in my life, and perhaps in that of another’s. Who 
knows? 

How one’s thoughts keep the eyelids open. Al- 
ready 12.30 and my couch is undisturbed: not so 
with my heart-beats to-night, for I cannot banish 
these girls from my mind, especially Bertha, and 
the whereabouts of Eugene Mayhew. The first 
time I ever experienced such a feeling. Can it be 
that which people call jealousy ? If so, is it one of 
the evidences that love’s flame has been kindled ? 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


163 


There are some things we cannot suppress at will. 
This may be one of them. Is jealousy inseparably 
associated with love ? I have heard people say that, 
and why should it not be true ? It may be re- 



JERUSALEM ! HOW SHALL I ARRANGE MATTERS? 


garded as an exhibition of selfishness. What if it 
is? that does not prove it to be a violation of natural 
laws. Of the inalienable rights bequeathed tons by 
God, are “ the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit 


16 i 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


of happiness.” This search for a wife is certainly 
made with a view of augmenting my happiness, 
and that is sanctioned not only by human law, but 
specially commanded by the Supreme Ruler of the 
universe. I wish to be magnanimous, but I can’t 
see that magnanimity is imperative, if it would bar 
me from achieving the one great object of my life — 
the winning of a wife. Viewed, however, from an- 
other standpoint, Bertha should be allowed the same 
rights as I. If Eugene meet with favor in Bertha’s 
eyes, nobility of principle would dictate that he 
should not be abridged in his liberties in that direc- 
tion. Then, again, if Bertha ever had the genuine 
sparks of love kindled toward me, they will not be 
extinguished by the gallantries and adulations of 
others. That there do exist some striking affinities 
between Bertha and myself, there is no doubt, but a 
possibility that some of these may be only transitory, 
not of the imperishable kind I am after. I prefer 
the unquenchable sort, those which grow stronger 
and brighter with the lapse of time. Eugene may 
be just the “ spirit test ” in this regard, and relieve 
my mind of uncertainties. Nothing like practical 
demonstration of the ordinary principles of life. 
How much more important when they relate to a 
covenant unending in its sequences. I’ll dismiss 
commotion, get repose, and await future develop- 
ments ; for to-morrow, I am to see Bertha once more, 
if only to say “ good-by.” 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. ■ 


165 


CHAPTER XXII. 

No time to jot down thoughts and events since 
yesterday, though they have been many. New 
scenes, another day’s history, “last words” with 
Bertha, good-by to Paris ; incidents while recross- 
ing the English channel, and my arrival in London, 
and welcome by aunt and Virginia. All these, and 
many more, since my soliloquizings in reference to 
Frank and Bertha. It is now near midnight again, 
but in London, not Paris this time; and the wind 
is cutting up curious pranks outside, and around the 
tresselled casements of the windows to my room, 
and it brings to mind queer thoughts and associa- 
tions. 

The weird notes and desultory wild strains of the 
wind remind one of music from the chords of the 
^olian harp. Why should I be thus greeted to- 
night? Such sounds as I now hear are full of 
sentiment and romance ; they are coupled with the 
traditions and history of love and knightly sway. 
Even the peasant and lowly of the earth have been 
and still are enchanted by the influences of these 
vibrations, and to them I am no exception. The 
sounds are deliciously dreamy, yet inspiriting and 
full of sentiment. Some one must have constructed 


166 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


a harp near my window since I was here, for “ the 
voice of the wind/’ how sweet and trembling in its 
vibrations as if tuned in unison with the spirit of 
heart and mind — not unlike Virginia’s guitar, under 
her magic touch. I don’t wonder that the untutored 
red man of the forest hears and sees the Great Spirit 
in nature ; that the singing leaf, the rippling rill, 
and the bubbling spring are whisperings of the 
Great Father to His children — Link after link is 
formed in this chain of thought ; but it won’t do, for 
nature needs a restorer. 

Quite a mail from America unopened yet! and this 
must be considered before I retire. This letter from 
my chief clerk — Foster — tells me that “ business 
moves along smoothly ; ” and this is an old-fashioned 
communication from the loved ones at home, saying 
“ all well, but anxiously awaiting your return ; ” 
and this one, marked Bryn Mawr, is, sure as the 
world, from Clara Livingstone, who writes — days 
have appeared as weeks since you bid me adieu at 
the gate. From the little church on Sunday I 
missed you, but my spirit went out toward London, 
wondering what you were doing and if you thought 
of me.” No mistake about it, Clara is a noble little 
woman. This letter from my good and confidential 
friend, Rufus Fowler, who writes — “ Clara Living- 
stone and Theodore Du Bois are spoken of as the 
‘ ivy and oak.’ ” Jehosophat I “ when the cat’s away 
the mice will play.” That don’t exactly look like 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


167 


days were weeks, not if I know myself. This per- 
fumed note — start up the band! — is from Josie 
Forneau, saying — “we had a rough sea, on our 
way back, all well at home, and T had a delightfully 
strange dream about you ; will be most happy to see 
you just as soon as you return to the Quaker city.” 
A paper from New York, announcing “Miss Ada 
Lathrop’s marriage in Florence, Italy, to Adolph 
, Gamier, a distinguished French author.” 

That contracts my circle one degree anyhow. As 
Dow, Jr., says: “So mote it be,” for Ada was a 
worthy girl. My best wishes go with them. Mated 
I hope, not married only. In this way, they go off 
in pairs the world over, controlled by different in- 
fluences, actuated by various motives, reading char- 
acters through glasses of all the seven primitive 
colors, with their endless variations. The ruling 
idea of some is wealth, others influence and distinc- 
tion, many to secure homes, not a few to increase 
their opportunities to see and know more of life, 
thousands in dread of becoming old bachelors, or 
old maids ; but all with the hope of securing hap- 
piness. The proportion that will realize their ex- 
pectations is but a fraction compared to the multi- 
tude who will be doomed to disappointment. This, 
to my mind, is not a distorted view of the uncer- 
tainties attending the change from the single to the 
married state. Love cannot be the central figure 
around which all other motions and interests have 


168 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


revolved, when such sequences follow. Incompati- 
bility of taste, disposition and temperament are not 
'placed on exhibition to the world through our 
courts and the press when love is the all-absorbing 



OPENING MAIL ON RETURN TO LONDON. 


principle. And this love, which is a part of the 
Divine essence, is all prevailing and immutable. To 
secure evidences of such a love, there must exist a 
unity of thought, a harmony of desires, a sincerity 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


169 


of motives, a willingness of self-sacrifice for the 
felicity of each other, an abnegation of personal 
gratification, that there may be a oneness of fruition. 
These are the natural and spontaneous offerings 
which continually shed their light, radiance and 
beauty around the hearts, lives and homes of those 
who have clasped hands and joined destinies. They 
are the evidences that the natural affinities of spirit, 
mind, and heart have blended in perfect harmony. 
This unbroken circuit is love ; and this is what I 
seek, and for the securing of it, I elect as guides 
the undying principles upon and through which the 
Creator has established His kingdoms, and by which 
harmony of motion of untold numbers of worlds is 
perpetuated. As I appropriate the constituents of the 
Divine mind in my investigations, why should I 
not be able, as a finality, to wear on my brow the 
laurels of victory ? ” If these cannot be won, “ As I 
will be,” in my advanced years of loneliness, will be 
made the subject of the painter’s easel, as the third 
epoch of my life. 

Is it not possible that some fair one, who may 
chance to see these reveries, may illuminate and 
cheer my spirit, and avert such a dire calamity? 


12 


170 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

Hays have passed, events have multiplied, and 
here I am once more on board of a steamship; this 
time “The City of London,” and with me are 
Aunt Mellville and Virginia Creighton. We are 
now joyfully anticipating the arrival of Mrs. May- 
hew and her daughter, Urania, who will complete 
our party. It is already 10 o’clock, and they were 
to be here by 9. I wonder what detains them. It 
would be too bad if something has happened and 
they should miss the steamer, for we sail at 11 a.m. 
I had built so much on the prospective develop- 
ments through that little Swedish nightingale, 
Urania, that her absence would surely depress me, 
and sorely disappoint aunt and Virginia, who were 
more than curious to see them — “Order the 
band to play,” for yonder they are ! and Mr. 
Mayhew is with them. How elastic one’s spirits ! 
The reaction makes doubly delightful their coming. 

“ I am so happy, Mr. and Mrs. Mayhew, you 
came in time; and to you, Urania, a heartfelt wel- 
come. I was brooding over all sorts of ills that 
would befall us if you had not come. Now, that 
you are really here, allow me to make you ac- 
quainted with my aunt, Mrs. Mellville, and Miss 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


171 


Virginia Creighton, who have, like myself, been 
considerably agitated, for fear you would arrive too 
late. This is a splendid vessel, and I know that 
we are going to have a real good time going over. 
You need give yourself no uneasiness about bag- 
gage or anything else, for Dick has attended to 
everything. So sorry, Mr. Mayhew, you can’t go 
with us, but as you say, ‘ necessity knows no law.’ 
I hope the near future may favor us with your 
presence in the City of Brotherly Love. The in- 
vitation is a standing one.” 

“ Thanks, Mr. Willoughby, two at once will do. 
You will be sort of a prince to have sole charge of 
such wide-awake passengers. So good-by, to one 
and all.” 

The gang-plank lias been pulled aboard, and 
now the ponderous engines are in motion, and we 
move out gracefully from the harbor, while waving 
handkerchiefs and salutations from those on ship and 
shore speak volumes to all, and “ God speed ” to our 
regal ship. Some are looking on friends and rela- 
tives for the last time, and are bidding a final adieu 
to “old England,” to meet new friends, and cast their 
lot in a new world ; others are merely making 
voyage for pleasure or profit ; and a few are bridal 
pairs taking a “ honey-moon ” trip to America. 
The heart could not ask more than the day offers, 
or greater elegance and luxury than are at our 
command. It is an ocean palace, under the direc- 


172 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


tion of a captain distinguished for his good record 
as a navigator and his urbanity of character. 

Smaller and more faintly grow the outlines of 
the distant city of Liverpool and the eastern shores 
of the Atlantic, for we are now on the heavy swells 
of the sea. Oh ! here comes my quarto, Urania 
and Virginia, aunt and Mrs. Mayhew, in pairs, just 
as I thought they would soon be. 

“Frank, isn’t this perfectly grand? and I am not 
a bit seasick yet, either. Your aunt has been tell- 
ing me that I could not stand the roll of the vessel 
much longer, but she has missed her mark this 
time, and I am so glad. Are’nt you ? ” 

“ Yes, Virginia, and I trust her prophecies in 
that direction will never come to pass till we reach 
the other shore. They say that sea-sickness is per- 
fectly terrible, and it would worry me awfully to 
see you its victim. It would mar my happiness, 
and very much upset my plans. Now don’t ask 
me what these are, for to tell you might defeat their 
object, or if not that exactly, the telling might de- 
tract from the pleasure of them.” 

“I thought, Frank, that you would agree with 
me, and I am glad to know that my unhappiness 
would mar yours. Not that I’d wish you to feel 
uncomfortable, but as indicating that you thought 
that much of me. I can’t see for the life of me 
what plans you can have in store to surprise us 
with ; I’d give considerable to know.” 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


173 


“ That’s just what I expected you to say, Vir- 
ginia ; you are like all the girls ; excite their curi- 
osity once, and they’ll never rest till the secret is 
out, and once known, the charm is gone.” 

“ You are off the track there, sure, Frank, for 
girls are no circumstance to men, as lovers of the 
curious and mysterious things of life. Say to a 

young man once that Miss (no I won’t tell 

you) said something that almost took my breath 
away, and he’ll never sleep till he finds out who it 
was, and what was said, and it is not probable that 
you are an exception to the rule. Don’t you think 
that is so, Mrs. Mayhew?” 

“ Generally speaking. Miss Virginia, I think you 
are right, but I regard it as a commendable trait in 
both, for this love of finding out things is the 
underlying principle which has given to the world 
our great inventions, photography, the steam- 
engine, the telegraph and telephone, as contribu- 
tions to our comfort and happiness. By the first, 
we are able to see our friends as they were or are, 
though distant from them ; by the second, travel- 
ling is made a pleasure; by the third, we can con- 
vey in a few moments messages to distant friends ; 
and by the fourth, we can transmit our voice, even. 
Therefore, Virginia, I pnnot see anything but 
good in the love of the hidden things of life. I 
know that my daughter, Urania is an advocate of 
this ‘love of the unknown,’ for she has even worried 


174 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


me with questions that would more than puzzle a 
philosopher. I hardly think Mr. Willoughby will 
deny its value as a factor indispensable to one in 
quest of knowledge, for I am inclined to believe 



PARTING SALUTATIONS ON LEAVING LIVERPOOL. 


that he is quite fond of investigating and exploring 
the unknown himself Am I wrong, Mr. Wil- 
loughby V’ 

“ When two are against one, my way of escape is 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


175 


not easy, and especially when they use the very 
argument that I might possibly take in my de- 
fence. In reply to your question, I must admit 
that your position is impregnable. Still, there are 
some things best not to know immediately, and 
these are those plans referred to. Some one says : 
‘Where Ignorance is bliss ’tis folly to be wise,’ and 
there is some force in the remark. What think 
you, Miss Urania ? You have been silent on 
the subject.” 

“ It is not best, Mr. Willoughby, always to tell 
what one thinks or knows. You seem to think 
that way about your plans, and perchance it’s wise 
for me to follow suit.” 

“ That’s a dead shot, Urania ; I little thought you 
had such a trained eye. Too many batteries 
levelled at me, and aunt still in reserve. Let us 
talk about something else. What shall it be, 
Urania ? ” 

“ There are so many themes to give employment 
to one’s mind out here on deck, that it should not 
be difficult for you to make a choice. I think the 
present surroundings are especially favorable for a 
study of the wind-currents or those of the ocean. 
I like astronomy, too ; suppose we devote our minds 
to that interesting subject. The sky is most beau- 
tiful, the air is clear, and why not try and gather 
some knowledge from the planets this evening ? we 
may never be so favorably situated again.” 


176 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


/ 

e 

( 


“ Your choice is just what I would have made ; 
I was even going to suggest it, Urania. I guess 
both will find a field up there for thought. That’s 
the signal for supper. I am so happy you are all 
able to join me in this agreeable exercise of taking 
in supplies. Let’s have a jolly time ; eat, drink, 
and be merry.” 

That’s business now. Later developments may 
demonstrate the wisdom of my plan. In making 
choice of that which is palatable, discretion is fre- 
quently a foreign matter, and especially with those 
not accustomed to ocean travel. Skilful engineer- 
ing, too, is not always free from accidents, and a 
little distress may occasionally prove to be indis- 
pensable to victory. 



IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


177 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

“ That’s too shockingly bad for anything, Frank, 
and I am sorry your aunt is feeling quite ill; all 
the symptoms of ‘sea-sickness;’ and Virginia, too, 
is not exactly comfortable. Mamma thinks she had 
better remain with them ; so it looks as if you and I 
would be alone to-night. Do you think our theme 
can be made interesting when there are only two 
of us?” 

“ I see no reason why it should not, Urania, for 
we need not be quite as reserved in giving expression 
to our thoughts and feelings. We’ll be a little less 
trammelled, won’t we ? ” 

“ Possibly so, Frank, if the subject enthuses suf- 
ficiently. Isn’t it a magnificent night? How 
majestically supreme appear the rolling waves below, 
and the starry dome above. What stupendous rep- 
resentations of Omnipotence ! 

“ There ! I forgot something important and must 
see Virginia for a moment. Please excuse me, Frank, 
for I’ll be gone but a little while.” 

“All right, Urania, I’ll try and amuse myself 
’till your return.” 

Alone again ! That worked like a charm ; and 
how readily Urania took the hint and ate sparingly; 


178 


EEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


only a few crackers and tea sufficed her, and she is 
all right, while the others keep company out of 
sympathy. Wasn’t it a little cruel in me not to 
give the others the cue ? The plan worked anyhow 
most admirably, and I am to have only Urania this 
evening, and two can study so much better than 
when there are three or more. Three is an odd 
number, and two is even, and one can work the 
latter with so much more ease. That is an estab- 
lished truth in mathematics, and we necessarily will 
touch upon the science of quantity to-night while 
studying the celestial orbs. I do hope some dis- 
coveries will be made that shall give additional 
guides to the much coveted prize — a wife. Surely, 
astronomy, the oldest and most perfect of sciences, 
will light my pathway, through her countless glit- 
tering constellations. 

Yonder comes Urania, now, and my reverie is to 
be the result of a dual in lieu of a lone contempla- 
tion. 

“I wasn’t gone long Frank, was I?” 

“ It seemed quite a spell, Urania, but I put in the 
time musing about you and our appointed theme, 
and I wondered if it would furnish us mutual en- 
joyment. If you understood my prime object in 
life, you might more thoroughly comprehend my 
special motive in adopting such a plan as I have.” 

“You awaken an interest, Frank, as to that 


IN QUEST OP A WIFE. 


179 


‘special motive;’ won’t you favor me by satisfying 
it?” 

“ Urania, I would make almost any sacrifice to 
please you, but it might defeat wholly my object 
were I to reveal it now. It may be possible for me 
to solve the riddle later on.” 

“ Do you mean to-night, Frank ? ” 

“ Hardly that soon, Urania. So much depends 
upon contingencies that I am not safe in naming a 
time. Our subject may make my motive more than 
apparent to you. If it should, I will ask for no 
better evidence of the existence of laws of attraction 
between the heavenly planets, and their influence, 
by conjunction, upon spirits whose temporary abid- 
ing-place is this little world of ours. You know, 
Urania, that many persons believe that the planets 
have a controlling influence upon the destinies of 
people, either for weal or for woe. ‘ Born under a 
lucky planet’ is an expression heard almost every 
day, and there is much more in it than the multi- 
tude conceive, to my way of thinking. Indeed, I 
am inclined to believe that the spheres may have 
a potency in guiding and shaping our lives, inde- 
pendent of the incident of birth. If man be of a 
dual nature — spirit and body — it is not difiicult to 
understand how other planetary life may influence 
one’s destiny.” 

“I keep pace with your ideas, Frank, and am 
inclined by them to almost conclude that you are 


180 


EEVEEIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


quite a philosopher. I suppose astronomy and 
philosophy are near relatives. Through both, many 
mysteries of life are solved and more exalted con- 
ceptions of God obtained. This is not the first 
night, Frank, that I have turned my face upward to 
view the beautiful hemisphere, yet it is the only 
time at sea, and how happy I am for this opportun- 
ity, and especially fortunate in having such a genial 
spirit as you are to keep me company, while vision 
and thought are making such celestial flights. I 
am always infused as with a new life, whenever I 
gaze upon the beautiful stars ; they are to me as so 
many parts of the Divine mind, demonstrating its 
perfection and its infinite character. No one can 
ever go far wrong if he take such a chart as that 
up there to guide him.” 

“ Yes, Frank, I too believe in this influence of the 
heavenly planets, as affecting human destiny. Why 
should I not, when even our own satellite, the 
moon, exerts such a mighty influence over these 
very waves which bear our noble ship ? The flux 
and reflux of the sea through the moon’s attractive 
force is too well-known to doubt, and yet this is but 
as a little bead to a ponderous hall, when we think 
of some of the other planets. The earth on which 
we live is vastly larger, and still how small is slie 
when compared with the planets Jupiter, Saturn, 
Uranus, and Neptune. All revolve through space 
in accordance with well-known laws of attraction, 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


181 


and each exerts its influence on other spheres, while 
moving in beautiful harmony in its own appointed 
orbit.” 



FRANK AND URANIA STUDYING ASTRONOMY AT SEA. 


“ How entertainingly you talk, Urania. I feel 
that you are my monitor to-night. Go on, my dear, 
sweet girl ; my mind and heart both shall accompany 
you.” 

“ Frank, if you are not afraid of getting lost in 
that far ofi* region whither this theme leads me, I 


182 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


shall only be too happy to soar there. The ocean 
beneath us looks unfathomable, but its depth is not 
a millionth part of the illimitable space that sur- 
rounds the setting of the nearest twinkling star. 
That you may form some conception of that distance, 
allow me, Frank, to lead you up there by degrees. 
To do this I shall speak first of the inferior planets, 
or those between the earth and sun. Mercury is dis- 
tant from the sun thirty-seven million miles; Venus, 
that beautiful morning and evening star, is sixty- 
nine million miles; the Earth is ninety-five million; 
Mars, one hundred and forty-four million ; Jupiter, 
four hundred . and ninety million ; Saturn, nine 
hundred million ; Uranus, eighteen hundred mil- 
lion ; Neptune, two thousand eight hundred and 
fifty million miles from the sun. Now we have step 
by step ascended, and will be better able to grasp the 
thought that the nearest fixed star, is not less than two 
hundred and ninety-two billion miles from the earth. 
Extending our conception, think of this star as a 
sun like our own, with planets revolving around it, 
in their orbits, and we form some idea of one star 
as a central sun of other worlds like our own. Then 
conceive, if you can, of the innumerablestars, assigns 
of other worlds, and you obtain a limited grasp of 
the illimitable space occupied by unseen worlds. 
Then to this append the thought, that these worlds, 
like our own, have their mountains, valleys, lakes, 
rivers, and oceans, and are peopled, governed and 


IN QUEST OF A WIPE. 


183 


controlled by laws, for aught we know, similar to 
our own. When we are able to comprehend all 
these as the result of mind, wisdom, and power ema- 
nating from God, who can doubt that the same 
Creator has provided immortality for us, his children. 
One cannot question his ability ; then if we cannot 
doubt his goodness, let us feel sure that a place has 
been prepared, and a way provided for gaining ad- 
mission to it, when this tabernacle shall perish and 
the spirit shall be freed from its corporeal body.” 

“ My dear Urania, you have led me as a captive 
from planet to planet, from star to star, through such 
beautiful realms, that I feel as one enchanted. Your 
voice even seemed as if tuned in unison with the har- 
mony of the spheres. These all point out to me the 
truth, that symmetry of motion, harmony of thought, 
oneness of purpose, and unity of spirit, are attributes 
essential to perpetuity of life and the attainment of 
hajipiness. Affinity of thought, and affinity of heart 
by attraction, are in the direction of the harmony 
of heavenly bodies, and are not these manifested 
to-night, Urania ? ” 

“ To a degree this really seems so, and the feel- 
ings are unusual to me. I guess, my dear Frank, 
the Avords of the poet convey both our thoughts 
just now : 

‘ Tlie very law that moulds a tear, 

And bids it trickle from its source; 

That law preserves the earth a sphere, 

And guides the planets in their course.’ 


184 


E EYERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


And if the planets, wliy not guide our lives also? 
We are sort of planets; don’t you think so? ” 

“ Yes, Urania, I was trying to establish proof of 
it in one of my reveries, even before I knew you.” 

“ Is it possible ! Frank, ’tis eleven o’clock, and we 
must go down in the cabin, for they surely will feel 
uneasy about us.” 

“You are right, Urania. We can meet again. 
AVhat a delightful time we have had.” 

“ Most charming, Frank; I would that time always 
thus passed away. To-night I sleep upon the ocean. 
How strange it will seem !” 



IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


185 


CHAPTER XXV. 

“ Really, Mr. Willoughby, you and my daughter 
must have become intensely interested in astronomy 
to forget the hours. We didn’t think you would 
leave us alone so long. ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ 
is sometimes verified. Has that been the case with 
you in relation to us to-night ? ” 

“ Mrs. Mayhew, I owe you an apology, and aunt 
and Virginia, also, for apparent inattention. No, 
you were not out of mind, but the truth is, we be- 
came so absorbed in the star-world that we were 
not conscious of the rapid flight of time. I’ll try 
and give you no cause of complaint in the future, if 
you will cancel such a thought as indifference. I 
think Urania is entitled to more credit than I am, 
for it was she who signalized the lateness of the 
hour ; so don’t censure her. I’ll take all the blame, 
if any is justly chargeable. How are you feeling? 
Urania reported that you had symptoms of the 
affliction so common to ocean voyage.” 

“ Happy to say, Mr. Willoughby, that all three 
of us are decidedly better. I guess it will soon pass 
over, and that we shall enjoy the rest of the trip. 
It is a little queer that Urania isn’t affected at all. 
Urania is a fortunate child ; good luck seems to at- 
tend her wherever she goes and whatever she 
13 


186 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


does. I hope her theme to-night will bring more 
of it. It gives me satisfaction to know that both 
of you agree so well as to having had a happy time 
among the planets.” 

“ Thanks, Mrs. Mayhew, I am pleased to learn 
you are so considerate for the happiness of others. 
Your recompense will come by-and-by. How 
rapidly the moments pass. The hour necessitates 
saying ‘good-night’ to all, in the hope of seeing you 
in buoyant frame of mind on the coming to-morrow.” 

That was a very neat reproof speech of Urania’s 
mother, and I deserved it all, no doubt. It wasn’t 
just the proper thing, the first night at sea, and 
I’ll see that she has no cause in the future ; for I 
must keep in favor with the mother at all hazards. 
It looks as if both aunt and Virginia were hardly 
reconciled yet, and I’ll have to establish “good will,” 
and even more than that, there too. I’ll fix things 
in the morning, if there should be indications of a 
score to settle with me. Virginia is a sweet girl, 
and more than one knows it. The truth of the 
matter is simply this, that it requires considerable 
engineering to establish my theories as to the laws 
of affinity, and keep at the same time so many in- 
teresting spirits in the happy key. Especially is it 
important that no falling off of interest should be 
noticeable, in regard to the one committed to my 
guardianship, and who now, for the first time, is 
going among strange people, in a strange land. 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


187 


This night has been an unusual one in my ex- 
perience. Urania amazed me by her intimate ac- 
quaintance with astronomy ; her mind seemed to 
play with the planets as a child with its toys. One 
inherits distinctive powers, such as music, painting, 
mathematics, etc., and no doubt her gifts in this 
direction are from her grandfather, who was a noted 
astronomer. What a striking similarity of ideas 
we possess regarding attractive forces. There are 
marked affinities of mind, for I seemed involuntarily 
to be swayed _in whatever direction her thoughts 
might take. Bertha Clarke, Virginia Creighton, 
Josie Forneau, and Gertrude Wilson, are all bright 
lights, and exhibit different kinds and degrees of 
affinity. Bertha’s is of the instantaneous character 
that takes a fellow as by storm ; Gertrude’s is of 
the cold, intellectual order ; Josie’s dazzles like the 
star Venus ; Virginia’s, like the vibrations of the 
strings of her guitar, sort of tranquilizes the ruffied 
spirit ; but Urania’s influence over me, though kin- 
dred to Virginia’s, is still of a different sort — more 
etherial and angelic, stealing on one’s senses almost 
imperceptibly, until heart and mind seem to be alive 
to the exhalations of new worlds of beauty. 

My spirit has, as by a vision, visited at times the 
habitations of kindred spirits, catching a glimpse 
of the indescribable beauties, glories and harmonies 
of celestial kingdoms, as if by revelation, to establish 
the truth of immortality ; and it may be, that 


188 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


Urania’s tlieme, by affinity of thought and impulse, 
accounts in a measure for my ecstatic condition 
while viewing the starry kingdoms. If life be a 
state of probation, it is not wholly illogical to con- 



STATE RpOM : FRANK IN A REVERIE. 


elude, that God sometimes permits His children, by 
Faith, to see beyond the shadows of this planet, in 
order to inspire a newness of life, through hopes of 
the glories awaiting such as are called, “ thou well 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


189 


done ” ; and the 'pure in heart, who are promised 
that “ they shall see God.” 

I know that men and women are frequently 
called visionary, when their thoughts and actions 
are at variance with the multitude, and are not in 
line with the cold matter-of-fact world we live in. 
It is not improbable that I may, while on the present 
plane of thought, be put on the list of the eccen- 
trics. This will give me no concern. My near and 
distant future is too full of rich promises ; too re- 
plete with anticipated joys, to idle my time on trivial 
conjecturings of those whose ambition is limited to 
things secular. To secure a wife who will complete 
the voyage of life with me, embodying a unity and 
oneness of spirit, will be a sufficient conquest to re- 
ward me for all my singular and difficult methods 
for winning a mate. 

Sometimes, in our eagerness to possess a conceived 
object, we are propelled at dangerous speed. This 
may be my case now. As I reflect, if memory do 
not betray me, heathen mythology tells us that 
Urania was regarded as a heavenly goddess, one of 
the nine Muses, and a daughter of Zeus, and that 
she reigned as the Muse of astronomy. Wouldn’t 
it be a strange climax, were I, by some unaccount- 
able influence and fatality, to be wedded to a muse — 
an imponderable spirit, instead of a tangible cor- 
poreal body ? “ Enoch was translated that he might 
not see death.” Precisely how that was done, I 


190 


EEVEEIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


never knew. Is it not possible for my transition to 
be effected in some way equally mysterious ? I 
know that my father has had visions of those in the 
spirit land, and even held communion with them. 
“ In the fulness of time,” I, likewise, may have 
entered there. Father alone understood the spirit 
of my childhood life, and to him I am indebted for 
the higher and nobler impulses which have since 
then so happily guided me, in my search for truth 
through the revelations of nature — the mind and 
spirit worlds. 



IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


191 


CHAPTER XXVI. 

Night has passed, and all the vicissitudes of 
another day. Aunt and Virginia are reconciled 
and in “good cheer,” and I only await their pres- 
ence on deck, in company with Urania and her 
maternal guide. ’Till then, I will keep company 
with the moonlit sea and the constellations which 
belt the sky, and mark the apparent path of the 
sun. The polar star, as of old, still remains poised 
as a guide to sailors on the trackless waters. The 
Great Bear group, presents the same aspect to him 
and her whose locks are silvered by the frost of 
years, as it did in their days of prattling childhood. 
Stars, like men and women, vary in size and degrees 
of brightness. Only a few are of the first magni- 
tude, a less number of the second, and many of the 
sixth. Some people, too, are like fixed stars, stead- 
fast and ever safe guides, sort of central suns, around 
which others as planets revolve. As my eyes skirt 
the horizon, I see star after star in succession rise 
above it in the East, and one following another as 
if setting in the West. Thus the human family in 
endless succession, one member after another, loom 
above life’s horizon, make the circuit among other 
constellations, and pass from view like these stars. 


192 


KEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


Some stars, as if out of their appointed orbits, fall, 
and seem to be lost in space. Happy is the one 
whose star has a peaceful setting, for it shall rise 
again, 

I hear Virginia’s voice ! Yes, sure enough, yonder 
I see all of my little band, and they seem intensely 
amused about something. I’ll bet they won’t tell 
me what it’s about. Women are curious creatures. 
The chances are, they are feigning on purpose to 
excite my curiosity, and get the laugh on me. I 
have been there before. No you don’t, if I know 
myself. 

“Good evening, my dear nephew; we came up to 
keep you company for awhile. Virginia told us 
something that put us in ecstacies, and that’s what 
we were laughing about. It is in relation to one 
.of us five.” 

“ Aunt, you’ll ‘miss the catch’ this time; your 
bait is extra fine, but I was caught once before. I 
am not at all curious, my dear happy family. Your 
plan is a little defective for once.” 

“Say, Mr. Willoughby, what has been your chief 
subject of thought since you have been out here 
alone? We all want to know. A prize awaits me 
if my guess be right.” 

“ By all the planets ! Virginia, that’s a poser, and 
sprung upon me so unexpectedly sudden, that it 
almost paralyzes me. You’ll allow me time to regain 
my equanimity, and collect my thoughts. Question: 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


193 


‘ What has been the chief subject of thought, since 
you have been out here alone ? ’ — I would like you 
to get the prize, Virginia, if this were possible, 
without the others losing. Let me see, chief subject, 
you want ? why you were, Virginia.” 

“Just what I said to Mrs. Mellville and mamma. 
You have lost, and I have won, Virginia. I am 
sort of a mind-rreader, Frank, am I not? ” 

“ Well you hit it right, that time, Urania; yet I 
hope Virginia will be satisfied.” 

“ Rather happily surprised, Frank, in being the 
chief subject of your thoughts for once — Urania is 
such a celestial girl, that I didn’t know but she 
might have taken you off in some of her aerial 
flights, and I’d be wholly forgotten.” 

“ I couldn’t forget you, Virginia, and yet you 
know Urania has wonderful gifts, and specific 
knowledge of those distant spheres up there. I 
a\n free to confess, that I was captive last night. 
If you’d been there, I think you’d been too.” 

“You make me blush, Frank, by your superla- 
tives. I am but a novice in the field of astronomy, 
and yet I am never happier than when viewing the 
wonderful system of revolving worlds. You see 
that red-colored star off yonder ? That is Mars, 
and one of the superior planets, making its revolu- 
tion around the sun in about two years. Jupiter’s 
year is about twelve of ours, and she has four 
satellites to illiimitiate her ponderous globe at night. 


194 


EEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


Saturn’s year is more than twenty-nine of ours, and 
her moons are four. Then think of Uranus and 
Neptune’s orbits; the first, so vast as to take eighty- 
four, and the latter, one hundred and sixty-six 



VXBQINIA THE CHIEF SUBJECT OF THOUGHT. 


years, for these planets to make their circuits of the 
sun. These things the schoolboy knows, and yet 
they are unending in their interest to me. Many 
an hour have 1 spent in studying even little Mer- 
cury, whose year is only about eighty-eight days. 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


195 


and whose diameter is but a little over three 
thousand miles. She specially enlists my attention 
because she is so close to the sun, and having no 
moon, I have wondered if she could be inhabited. 
I think, in fact, that the more one contemplates 
these far-off worlds, the more enlarged becomes one’s 
mind, and the more it absorbs the majestic concep- 
tion which created them and set them in motion 
through infinite space.” 

“ Yes, Urania, knowledge, to my mind, is one of 
the connecting links between earth and heaven. 
Thought is the central attribute of Him who holds 
all creation as in the hollow of His hand. How 
forcible and expressive are the words of another : 
‘ If I dive into the ocean, O thought, thou art there ; 
if I permeate the earth, thou art there; if I wing 
my flight into the heavens, behold thou art there ; 
if I soar to the uttermost parts of the earth, thou 
art there; if I encircle the globe, thou art there. 
No place is too remote for its touch ; no world too 
exalted for its grasp. O! thou infinite Thought — 
Jehovah.’ ” 

“ Frank, if we keep on, we’ll have surely a 
spiritual love feast, and that might sort of upset 
that special motive idea you once spoke of ; would 
it not? ” 

“ Not in the least, Urania, but on the contrary, 
promote it wonderfully. I even see now that your 
mind fathoms that motive, as I thought it would. 


196 


KEVERIES OP A YOUNG MAN 


when the right planets were in conjunction. One’s 
meaning is sometimes read between the lines; I 
guess our’s was between the stars. What think 
you, Urania ? ” 

“ My thoughts are in harmony with yours, 
Frank.” 

“ Urania, I am so happy that our minds are in 
unity, and this should convince both of the influence 
of planets on other lives. Need I say more ? ” 

‘‘ Not now, Frank, another time will be more 
opportune. I even now fear that too much has 
been heard, though we have spoken low.” 

“ That’s just my tune, Urania, though your 
mother, aunt, and Virginia, have some theme yonder 
by themselves. Let us all adjourn to the cabin and 
have some music for a change. Did you hear that 
suggestion, Virginia ? ” 

“ Quite distinctly, Frank, and if Mrs. May hew, 
and your aunt second it. I’ll say ditto. What say 
you? Must the thing’ they say, so we’ll join the 
big circle. We have been a little too exclusive, and 
have no doubt missed considerable amusement by 
so doing. What is your opinion, Frank ? ” 

“ More than likely, Virginia, but I guess we can 
make up for lost time. You and Urania can easily 
establish your identity, if it be your pleasure to 
favor us with some music. How does that idea 
strike you, Urania?” 

“ Whatever may be the pleasure of the many is 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


197 


mine, Frank ; though I feel that my powers of 
vocalization and also my playing, would suffer in so 
large a company. Still, if Virginia will join me, 
we together might add to the volume, if not to the 
quality of music. That’s hardly complimentary to 
you, Virginia, but my awkward way of expressing 
things. You catch my thought, do you not, Vir- 
ginia ? ” 

“ Quite readily, Urania, but perhaps not so grace- 
fully as Frank does sometimes, if I read the signs 
aright.” 

“ You puzzle me, Virginia, with your signs ; I am 
all at sea as to your meaning.” 

“Planets are sometimes in conjunction, and are 
not these signs, Urania?” 

“ You are getting too far into the abstruse sciences, 
Virginia ; you sort of bewilder me.” 

“ Urania, if you call that bewilderment, it must 
be of a kind that a girl about your size likes.” 

“ Here we are in the cabin — hasn’t he a fine 
voice ? I wonder who that lady is that’s playing 
on the piano, and who it is that handles so ex- 
quisitely fine that violin. Excellent harmony, isn’t 
it, aunt ? ” 

“ Superb, my nephew. How do you like it, Mrs. 
May hew ? ” 

“Just grand, Mrs. Mellville; I am so glad we 
came in time to hear it, and it is so much more 
comfortable here than out on deck.” 


198 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


“There! it is too bad they retire, for I could 
keep awake all night with such music as that, 
couldn’t you, Virginia ? ” 

“ Without an effort, Frank, for your aunt says, 
that’s a hobby of mine. Why just look at the time I 
no wonder they are all scattering. Our good 
mothers suggest that we had better follow example, 
and go too.” 

“ That’s perhaps the proper thing, and I concur. 
A good rest will make the morning brighter, and 
then we’ll meet again. Sweet sleep, refreshing 
dreams, and a good-night to all.” 

“Good-night, Frank, and don’t forget that 
special motive. ‘ One’s meaning is read between the 
lines, sometimes between the stars’ — precisely what 
stars, possibly Urania will tell me ; if not, you must 
to-morrow.” 

“ Good-night, Virginia. You are a bright one, 
but off the track this time. Urania will clear the 
mist, no doubt, before the morn.” 


IN QUEST OP A WIFE. 


199 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

This is the first morning twilight I have wit- 
nessed at sea. For a full hour my eyes have 
skirted the eastern horizon in admiration of the 
dual beauty of water and sky. The gradual 
appearance from below the water line of the subdued 
rays of the sun, not unlike an aurora-borealis, or 
the northern lights, gives one a better and truer 
conception of the earth’s diurnal motion than aught 
else I have seen. Tlie evening twilight has formed 
a theme for poets and lovers, like the star-lit sky in 
the month of June, but it wanes in impressive 
beauty and suggestiveness to such a twilight as this 
morning supplies. There is such a clearly discern- 
ible flood of light, and warmth, and mellow beauty 
stealing upwards and athwart the eastern sky, that 
one’s mind is awakened to livelier conceptions of 
those silent influences which infuse life throughout 
the realms of space, and impart light to benighted 
worlds. As this ponderous globe rises above the 
horizon, its outlines are clear and well-defined; still 
but a faint idea can be had that its diameter 
is eight hundred and eighty-two thousand miles, 
and that it would require two hundred and 
twenty years to reach it, travelling at the rate 


200 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


of fifty miles an hour. — The sun is risen, ami twi- 
light gone, and here on deck I sit and gaze, while 
meditating upon that unsolved mystery — Life. 

Those last words of Virginia’s — between the stars, 
tell me too plainly that she heard much, and yet I 
can show^ her, that they are naturally incidental, and 
in fact inseparable, to a proper study and under- 
standing of the complex relations of the planets. 
Poetry is allowed large liberty as to the form and 
use of words, in order that desired shades of thought 
and measures may be given ; why not prose, when 
holding converse with the world of stars ? Urania 
is gifted in speech, and to-night, no doubt, she’ll 
clear the mist from Virginia’s mind. What have I 
to worry me? Naught that I see. My motives are 
such as should win one’s love, and of that I feel 
proud ; yet I suppose it is natural that one should 
not tell all one thinks, or even one knows, especially 
when matters are in the whirlpool of uncertainties. 
I am still oscillating, like the pendulum of the old 
family clock, between several sweet girls, and while 
this is thusly, it is not wise, not even prudent, to 
show one’s hand too plainly. Girls take a sort of 
glory in the number of young men they keep afloat, 
like millers around a candle ; why not I also ? Many 
a bright and promising girl has wedded cruelty and 
misery for want of opportunities of selection. Like- 
wise, is the number legion, of w^orthy young men, 
wrecked on the marriage altar, through the misfor- 


IN QUEST OF A AVIFE. 


201 



tune of a limited circle of young lady acquaintances. 
These things the Avorld must know, and yet the 
martyrdom goes on. Yes, I’ll pull up reins, slack 


pace, and make a careful cast of my coterie of girls, 
and equate them, singly and collectively. It will 
do no harm to augment my number. A month of 

14 


'202 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


precaution now, may gain me a life’s treasure later. 
True some may go off, like Ada Latlirop ; that’s to 
be counted on among the possibilities. If the affin- 
ities are genuine they’ll keep, and, like wine, grow 
better with age. 

Different men have different ideas in regard to 
the essentials in a wife, in accordance with their de- 
gree of development. One views marriage purely as 
a business transaction. He would seek a wife pretty 
much as a man would a good horse, according to the 
kind of service it was to perform. Shape, size, 
muscle, age, stock, disposition and durability are 
points to be carefully considered before completing 
the bargain ; in a word, the estimated ability of the 
object of his choice to render the greatest service 
from a physical and domestic point of view ; the 
idea of companionship being a secondary considera- 
tion. 

Other men, while not disregarding the value of 
form, sound health, youth, family blood and tem- 
perament, their guiding thought is to select women 
who shall not only be qualified to manage the 
domestic affairs of a home, but who shall possess 
such mental endowments and culture as shall make 
it not merely possible, but actually pleasurable, for 
them to participate in such sesthetic, intellectual, 
and spiritual emjiloyments as may be associated 
with business, art, science, literature, society, or 
religion ; not overlooking the important fact, that to 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


203 


be happy, a couple should adjust and harmonize 
more and more their inequalities and differences, 
as they both ascend and descend the hill of life 
together., For to do this, is to develop a higher 
existence for each, and to consummate the glory of 
the “ marriage ring to grow beautifully old. 

There is another class of men, whose ideal wife 
is one who must possess grace of motion, symmetry 
of form, and beauty of features, with just sufficient 
mind-organism — and no more — than may be re- 
quired to go through with the acts of hero-worship, 
fawning, adulation, and endless caressings — a sort 
of cream, lavender, sugar-plum and confectionery 
doll. One whose central sun must be her liege lord, 
and whose highest conception of life is that which 
caters to the physical senses. 

The character of this species of adoration — I will 
not call it love — is as limited in duration on the 
part of either man or woman, as the season of 
youth or beauty. It is of that nature which cap- 
tivates for a period, and then loses its charm, withers 
and dies. 

The oil of life that supplies the steady and im- 
perishable flame, does not have its origin and foun- 
tain head in the physical senses ; its essence, with 
its inexhaustible supply, is generated in and flows 
from the realms of the mind and spirit world. 

As to which one of those three types I belong, 
the prelude, the interlude, and sequel should clearly 
show. 


204 


EEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Clouds and sunshine, days and nights have 
come and gone since my last soliloquizings have 
been put on record, and the latitude and longitude 
of our ship tell me that one day more will bring in 
view the light-house off Sandy Hook. How these 
unchronicled periods of time have been put in may 
be known later. Suffice it to say, that aunt Mary, 
Virginia, Mrs. May hew and Urania, are in good 
spirits and feel rewarded from their experience on 
the ocean. Virginia and Urania have become fast 
friends, and, as I learn, have completed some nice 
little plans as to what they’ll do subsequent to their 
arrival in America. Among these, during the time 
intervening between now and the opening of the 
fall term at Vassar College, they are to exchange 
visits between New Haven and Philadelphia. Mr. 
Mayhew’s brother is to meet us on landing, and 
Urania and her mother will go by steamer to the 
City of Elms, while aunt, Virginia and myself will 
proceed by rail to our home, in the Quaker City. 
What is to follow my arrival is almost beyond the 
power of prophecy, and yet I must not fail to call 
and spend an evening with Daisy Roseberry, that 
bewitching dark-eyed beauty, who has electrified 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


205 


one and all on board during our homeward passage. 
Fortune sometimes favors the brave, but in this case, 
my good luck in getting her in my circle is chiefly 
due to the good offices of Captain Boynton, our 
commander. You see, Daisy and her father were 
just returning from a year’s tour on the continent, 
and it is a happy circumstance that their residence 
is my own city. I had known Mr. Boseberry by 
reputation, as a prominent member of the Philadelphia 
bar, for a number of years, and little dreamed that 
by a peculiar coincidence I was so soon to become 
acquainted with his accomplished daughter. Who 
knows but some new affinities may come to the front, 
when I see her again? Urania and Virginia saw 
me in her company and wanted to know who she 
was, and I promised an introduction, which circum- 
stances prevented. 

The student of chemistry and physics has long 
since discovered that his best mode of investigation 
is by experiment. Not only does he observe the 
peculiarities that nature unfolds, but he tries to place 
bodies in special circumstances, to find out their 
properties, and reduce them to a code of simple laws. 
This is precisely what I am essaying to do with all 
the interesting girls on my list. At the side of these 
two sciences, there are many laws applied to organ- 
ized beings, animals and vegetables ; and in this new 
field of research — beside ponderable matter — there 
are found special phenomena, which are progressively 


2G6 


IlEVEPvIES OF A YOUAG MAN 


developed, accomplishing a certain evolution, and 
which constitute in one word, life. Science must 
bow before the cause of these vital actions ; but if 
it have not the power to explain them, it preserves 



FRANK EXAMINING THE LOG-BOOK. 


the right and duty of searching into the mechanisms 
and laws which dominate their various functions. 
-A.ni I not, in this domain, seeking new principles as 
guides to a wife ? 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


207 


The peculiar causes of emotion and thought, 
whether it proceeds from the heart or mind, are well 
worthy of investigation. I can’t say that I seek a 
mate purely through love of mind. Such love, if 
the affinities are a unit, is certainly indispensable to 
permanent joy. The heart, however, must play its 
part if I am to be edified and gain true felicity. The 
eye and tongue should manifest evidence of the 
heart’s condition, through the action of the purer and 
holier currents, just as imbibition of sap reaches the 
summit and gives beauty and life to the loftiest trees. 
^I’here is then, no doubt, unmistakable evidence of 
affinity, whether between mind or heart, that both 
persons at once recognize. 

The invisible currents increase their velocity, 
caloric is developed, and electricity and magnetism 
are produced. 

If another life be added to mine, it is all impor- 
tant that the elements that compose that life should 
be dissolved into mine, and mine into her’s, if I 
would establish a complete unity. There, must be 
an involution take place, in order to evolve therefrom 
the two-fold life, and establish the princijiles of 
development and endless progression. Evolution I 
hold to be the act of unfolding or unrolling ; as from 
the bud comes forth the flower, to be succeeded by 
the fruit. Seeking higher plains and realms, where 
exists greater happiness, I must conform in thought 
and act to the principles of evolution. Only through 


208 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


evolution is life developed and perpetuated. All 
nature teaches this. The whistling winds around 
and about me now, the floating clouds that I watch 
with unchanging interest, and the lightning flashes, 
breathe and speak life to the moving world of land, 
of sea, and air. And the forces beneath the earth’s 
crust — though less boisterous — in the mines, and 
under the mountains, show continual change : decay, 
death, and resurrection to a new life and new order. 
Even the mechanical and artiflcial powers, when 
not utilized, lose their beauty, force, and efficiency. 
The silent mill-wheel soon becomes useless ; the un- 
wound watch quickly rusts ; the street void of life, 
early becomes moss-covered ; the well unused, rap- 
idly chokes and fails its mission. So would I, were 
I to allow my faculties and functions remain dor- 
mant; so would all things visible and invisible. 
The revolution of the planets, the change of seasons, 
scenes, and occupations, are the life creators and life 
preservatives of the countless millions of animated 
creatures on earth and ocean. Old things pass 
away, and all things become new. Evolution is 
progression, and one of the supreme and universal 
laws established by the mind of the Infinite. 

Yes, this thought is full of hope to me, for out of 
it I feel assured there will evolve, when 1 have found 
a mate, higher conceptions, loftier aspirations, 
brighter visions, and a fruition broader and more 
enduring. 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


209 


CHAPTER XXIX. 

Once more I chronicle a brief of passed and 
present happenings. Early this morning we were 
in full view of New York. Since then, we have 
safely moored at Jersey City, had our baggage trans- 
ferred and parted company, with the usual “ good- 
by ” words with Urania and her mother, pleasant 
memories of each and hope of meeting soon again. 

“ Home at last,” and I once more under the roof 
of the old family mansion. Father, mother and 
sisters greet us warmly, which makes aunt Mary 
and Virginia instantly feel welcome. 

To my surprise, a larger company is assembling 
now to honor the event of our arrival. The draw- 
ing-room is alive with merry voices of friends, while 
Mamie and Cora are, in a charming way, doing 
the honors of the evening. No wonder father feels 
proud of them, for they have such a happy faculty 
of making everybody feel at ease, and yet they are 
so unlike. Cora, the elder, is self-possessed and of 
an elastic and easy turn, and yet full of spirit. 
Mamie, the younger, and now past twenty, is taller, 
more poised, dignified and blessed with a face not 
less attractive. In looks, there is the resemblance 
of sisters, but in that only, for their dispositions are 


210 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


widely at variance. The senior, now a young bride, 
having been captured by exhibitions of gallantry, 
is the prototype in her ways of her father ; while 
the junior sister portrays more fully her mother. 
It would be at variance with the truth for me to 
say that my spirit has not been happy with them. 
To-night I have ample reason to recognize their 
worth, for they are going to have a genial and 
bright throng of girls and boys (young men, I mean) 
to make up the company. 

How thoughtful and good in those darling sisters; 
for this honor will give aunt and Virginia such de- 
lightful impressions of our home, and be at the same 
time a pretty fair induction to Philadelphia society. 

“ You don’t tell me, Mamie, so many are up 
stairs ! it will be a treat, surely.” 

“They are all ‘on the list,’ brother Frank, and 
now await your presence in company with aunt 
Mary and Virginia, when the music will start up.” 

Jerusalem! they take me by storm, but orders 
must be obeyed, so here we go, and sister Mamie is 
to do the honors, — we enter : 

“Ladies and gentlemen, my aunt, Mrs. Mellville, 
my cousin, INliss Creighton, and my brother, Frank.” 

Pretty neat introduction that, even if given by 
the baby of the household, but not any more win- 
ning than the presence of those assembled ; and so 
many I know, are here. There, I see the ever un- 
changing expression of goodness and grace in Miss 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


211 


Kebecca Fontaine ; here, the bright-eyed Miss Daisy 
Carter, and the impulsive young widow, Lizzie Car- 
lisle; yonder the petite and bright spirit. Miss Josie 
Forneau ; also many new faces, to me, among the 
other ladies. And among the gentlemen, I notice 
the urbane Alfred Banks ; the music-loving Ben- 
jamin Mozart; the perfectly natural Elmer Clyde; 
the honest face Harry Marseilles ; and a host of 
new lights. 

The music opens, and the formality stiffness 
(sometimes painful) is at an end, and the “ every- 
body-at-home spirit ” takes possession, and a general 
good time is entered upon. 

Hours have passed, and now as finale to the even- 
ing’s pleasures, my little Virginia’s magic touch and 
her sweet notes are heard, swelling higher and get- 
ting richer in volume, as she warms up to the spirit 
of the composer’s conception. Everybody is in 
raptures ; Virginia has won a signal triumph — and 
in me has awakened new and uncommon emotion. 
She’s a jewel and no mistake, and how happy aunt 
looks, — well may she love that little star ; I strongly 
lean that way myself, and I am her guardian, too. 
What will she become, when she emerges from 
“ Vassar,” with her ribboned parchment ? “ Bother 

the flowers that bloom in the spring; ” no, not that, 
they bother me. I get awfully mixed up with these 
girls; I was “clear gone ” with Urania, a few days 
ago, and now I am getting so bewildered about 


212 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAX 





Jim Ml 


THE WELCOME HOME ON RETURNING I’ROM LONDON. 



IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


213 


Virginia again — passing into the stream of impulses, 
and out of the cold, calculating philosophy of the 
affinities. Really, I must put down brakes anew — 
and proceed logically. Urania will carry them by 
storm when she comes, and yet she is of a different 
mould from Virginia. How one’s mind skips from 
place to place, and from one incident to another. 
Bertha, just then, was in thought before me. Those 
three girls, Urania, Virginia and Bertha, must be 
my trinity bells, for I hear their voices even in my 
dreams as sweet chimes. I can’t marry all three 
even if I wished and could get them; and as to 
Virginia, her education is the first thing in order, 
and that will take years, and years are uncertain 
things for a young man to calculate on, when a 
beautiful and intellectually bright girl is surrounded 
with all the attractions and influences incident to a 
college life at Vassar. Not that ATrginia would be 
away from safe monitors, but we know that time 
brings unexpected changes ; it will no doubt with 
me, and why not with Virginia? These Vassar 
girls have brothers, and of course they visit their 
sisters ; and brothers like, occasionally, some other 
body’s sister better than their own. That’s natural, 
of course ; but one can’t always see anything 
specially funny when another fellow has scored one 
better with one of your girls. It’s a too sudden re- 
duction of numbers — I am getting this matrimonial 
idea down pretty fine, but hardly to a single unit. 


214 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


Yet, I don’t know Bertha’s status as regards me 
yet. Eugene may ere this have me as an after- 
. thought, in Bertha’s mind, for I now know just 
where he was the evening I spent at the May hews’ 
in Paris. The fact is, a fellow can’t pick out a girl 
and hang her on a hook, as one would his hat, and 
know always where to find her ; girls are sly — not 
from evil design, but merely to make sure of a 
chosen one. “You had better get down to business 
soon or you’ll be left,” they tell me. I thought I 
was there already, but only a few seem to think so. 

What a lucky thing to have a single sister ! That 
one of mine is a perpetual instructress to me. I 
watch with admiration her skilful management of 
conflicting forces, and this both edifies and instructs 
the brother. When “ coffee and pistols for tw^o ” 
seemed next in order, presto change, and reconcili- 
ation is restored. Communication is for a time sus- 
pended, perhaps, but the wires are repaired, new 
batteries formed, and the restored currents are even 
more active than before. It is amazing how much 
tact some girls exhibit at critical periods. To enter- 
tain three young men, at the same hour, who are 
rival suitors, and still keep each feeling as the one 
most favored, requires a high order of diplomacy, 
and this I’ve seen done. I am under lasting debt 
to a sister for this tuition, for without it I would 
have been baffled long ere this in testing my new 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


215 


theories. I would never have dreamed of the plan 
which worked so splendidly on board the “City of 
London.” It’s a great thing to have a sister. 4 
Should I win the prize I seek, I’ll bequeath to both 
of mine souvenirs that shall perpetuate my grati- 
tude. 




216 


EEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER XXX. 

It seems like an age since I was settled in my 
own sanctum, but to-night I sleep alone in that 
house specially built, furnished and adorned to make 
happy the chosen object of my ambition. The 
same old clock, the same open grate, the same books 
and associations are here, as when I left to sail on a 
strange mission. 

What a history that little voyage has made ! I 
was almost 'isolated then ; Clara was perchance my 
central figure, and yet she had not awakened those 
impulses which foreshadow love. 

I wonder who these letters marked ‘ private ’ are 
from. My chief clerk has kept my business straight, 
and this need not concern me now. These private 
letters may be important — Is It possible? Charley 
Danforth is married, and this is an invitation to his 
wedding. I hope he has not gone wrong. 

And this letter, post-marked London ! Who 
can it be from ? — Gertrude Field, I declare ! I re- 
member she said, “ who knows but I might aid you 
in your quest for a wife,” and this probably may 
contain a suggestion. Quite an epistle, sure ; I am 
interested to know what she says. I read : “ Dear 
Mr. Willoughby, — I felt disappointed that you were 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


217 


unable to call on me before leaving London, as I 
had something specially important to tell you. One 
of my dearest friends, a young lady of more than 
usual beauty and refinement, 4o whom I was speak- 
ing about you and your quest, was quite anxious to 
have an introduction, and I told her that you might 
call before returning to America. As you denied us 
this pleasure, I hope you will now pardon the liberty 
we seek : to open up correspondence on the subject 
of which your aunt spoke so very discouragingly. 
AYe both have known your aunt and Virginia so 
long that we felt that you would he able to learn 
of our family history, and that correspondence 
might result advantageously. 

“ Our cards are enclosed, and we await an early 
response to either, or both of us jointly.’’ 

Not a bad idea, and — Leonore Clafflin is a pretty 
name, too. That I may know what she looks like, 
how would it do to exchange cabinets? Just O.K., 
if Leonore is willing, and of course I’ll have to in- 
clude Gertrude in the proffered exchange or she’ll 
feel slighted. Some little romance about these two 
girls. Count me in ; I’ll write a joint letter to- 
morrow to go out in the next steamer. Better not 
tell aunt and Virginia about this letter at present ; 
wait for developments. 

Queer, isn’t it? just when one is closing in the 
lines, something turns up, Micawber like, — and you 
are unsettled again. ’Till I know more about 

15 


218 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG ilAN 


Leonore Clafflin, my mind will be to a degree rest- 
less. Not much wonder that I am pinned to the 
doctrines of evolution, as a sequence of involution. 
This letter involved, and now I evolve, and go out 
in divers forms toward the first cause — those two 
dear girls. 

And this letter, from cousin Eva, giving the 
startling information that she has chosen — H. G. 
Teaneck and “ anchored at last,” after years spent 
in teaching “young ideas how to shoot.” I hope 
her two-fold life may be a happy one. 

And this note from my old Quaker friend, 
Henry Atglen, inviting me to visit Chester Valley, 
and “spend a week with him and his family.” 
That’s a beautiful spot, and just the place to rusti- 
cate. I’ll take that in. 

Another wedding ! Yes, and another sweet girl, 
Marne Diamond, has already cast her destiny with 
Robert Bulwer. An only daughter and child. 
May joy attend them, and may blossoms deck their 
pathway. 

It looks as if my method of choosing a wife was 
like making a Voyage round the world ; so full 
of novelties and remarkable unfoldings, that one’s 
mind is kept revolving like a planet — without a 
pause for rest. “Time and tide wait not,” and so 
these young people pair off and launch their 
barques in rapid succession, leaving me still sailing 
on the boisterous sea of uncertainty. Will-power is 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


219 



a necessary factor in selecting a mate. This demon- 
strated, I shall become one of the world’s bene- 
factors. 


a wondrous lever, and this only has kept me there. 
If I enter the coveted haven of connubial bliss at 
last, the result will establish the value of science as 


220 


EEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


Only through science all true progress is made, 
for what is achieved without its aid is merely by 
chance or accident. Experience is the twin brother 
of science, and to it I am allied by the loftiest 
aims which can inspire one who seeks companion- 
shij) and a copartner whose seal shall be made and 
stamped “ approved ” by the Supreme Court of the 
universe. 

A friend tells me that I might as well try to 
make practical the idea of serial navigation, as en- 
deavor to ascertain unerring principles amd\ig the 
affinities in the selection of a wife,” — Another one’s 
conception blunted ; or rather uncultivated. The 
law of affinities is clear and unmistakable. 

It may be that my tastes are out of the usual 
order, and in a degree defective, and that this may 
account for my slow progress. Aunt Mary said, 
“'you want an angel;” and it is barely possible 
that I am on too high a key. 

There are various kinds and degrees of taste, and 
it is perhaps well for me to analyze mine. I have 
a taste for the moral and aesthetic, for physical 
grandeur, strength and boldness; and in a marked 
sen.se, I love the strictly intellectual character. 
These are frequently isolated and distinctive from 
the emotional nature. Can it be that I am not 
emotional enough to arouse responses from the 
hearts of these girls? It is not improbable that I 
am too philosophical. Some writers think that 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


221 


taste is never emotional, but in this I cannot agree ; 
for daily ocular evidences show me that one’s taste 
and judgment are measurably controlled by the 
emotions or feelings on viewing certain objects ; 
they excite sympathy or disgust, love or hatred, as 
they bear upon our sensitive or emotional nature. 
One may, perchance, say, that decisions which are in- 
fluenced by the heart are biased or partial. In some 
sense this is certainly true ; but when the cold and 
matured intellectual judgment is in harmony with 
the heart- promptings, it generally is broad and im- 
partial. In a degree only, is taste an original and 
distinctive power ; it appears rather as a combina- 
tion of other powers. One’s conceptions of the 
good, the true, the beautiful, the majestic and the 
sublime, have no doubt their springs in more locali- 
ties than one. The judgment is twisted and warped 
through the forces of education, customs of society, 
conditions of the body, or circumstances surround- 
ing its possessor. 

Now it is my aim to cut myself aloof from all 
warping influences, if that be possible, and have 
my judgment unfettered. If to do this, is to make 
difficult, or wholly impossible, my conquest of a 
wife, it is well for me to make the discovery now. 
On the other hand, if my methods (as I believe) 
are feasible, then I would wish to win a victory that 
shall leave its impress on those who succeed me, and 
in the language of Shakespeare : 


222 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


“ Nor leave one beliind that doth not wish 
Success and conquest to attend on us.” 

Such a termination would be the dawn of a broader 
liberty, and the entrance into the higher realms of 
two hearts, with but one thought, the fulfilment of 
love. 



IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


223 


CHAPTEK XXXI. 

The multitude of business matters which have 
occupied my thoughts since my last notations, have 
carried me into the season of midsummer, and Mrs. 
Mayhew and her celestial and bewitching Urania 
are now in company with aunt and Virginia at my 
father’s house. They arrived from New Haven this 
morning, and I promised to be with them all to- 
night. They are both looking superb, and are in 
high glow about the beauties of the grand elms 
which span Temple Street. 

Urania says, “ Some of the Yale boys are perfectly 
splendid, and her uncle and aunt are just grand.” 
Those students are noted beau ideals, so I’ve 
heard, and I don’t wonder much that Urania should 
set some of them in a flutter. That was my con- 
dition when I first met her, and a little more so, on 
seeing her this time. Not if I know myself, shall any 
of those Juniors or Seniors entrap this astronom- 
ical fairy. She shall be the central figure of my 
orbit for a while at least, and both mother and 
daughter shall realize that Philadelphia is not only 
the city of homes, but justly renowned for her hos- 
pitality. I’ll spread myself in doing them the 
honors ; I’ll see that they miss none of our chief 
attractions. Fairmount Park — our famous drives, 


224 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


legendary Schuylkill, and Wissaliickon, shall be 
made familiar to them, and the season is most pro- 
pitious for these excursions. Then our Academy 
of Fine Arts, School of Design, and other notable 
places, shall be visited. They are appreciative, and 
I shall joy in making them feel happy in this 
part of the New World. Their welcome in Con- 
necticut shall not tower above that accorded to them 
in Pennsylvania. If Urania was in any way 
touched in a tender sj^ot by those Yale gallants. I’ll 
make the recollection dim before her visit here is 
over. Aunt and Virginia shall not be overlooked, 
but they’ll have ample time to see and know it all. 
I am not playing on those strings now. Urania 
and her mother shall be able to write to the good 
old gentleman in Paris, words that will cheer and 
electrify him, on account of our hospitality. This 
will put Mr. Mayhew’s mind in a happy frame, and 
if the wife’s is made ditto here, two good influences 
will have been secured; and I know Urania pays 
great heed to parental counsel. To business now, 
for their time is short with us. 

How moments speed. In one hour more, and 
another evening with Urania. Our climate must 
agree with her, for she never looked better nor 
sweeter than this morning ; she then gave me this 
red rose, and with it this sprig of four-leafed clover. 
Each conveys a sentiment, no doubt, and I am to 
know what it is. Urania is full of sentiment, and I 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


225 


wouldn’t wonder a bit if love nestled somewhere near 
that girl. I know she possesses a mind-love of the 
beautiful things in the botanical world; isn’t it then 
more than probable that she has a love-centre 



MEETING URANIA AND MOTHER AT THE BROAD ST. STATION. 


around which one might revolve, and thereby 
awaken tangible manifestations? Yes! that girl is 
full of heart for some one, if the keys are only 
found. Would that I possessed them. Only one 


226 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


fellow can ; and isn’t that one as likely to be this as 
any other body ? To remove the doubt is to know 
her more, and she me. A little engineering, pdi-haps 
to-night, may settle the query. 

How easily one is led astray, and prompted from 
reports to draw false conjectures. Clara Living- 
stone, as I saw her yesterday, seemed unchanged 
and as sparkling as ever. She peremptorily denied 
the “ ivy and oak ” story, and I believe her, for 
she for one is free from dissemblance. With all her 
attractions, isn’t it strange that no emotional affini- 
ties, or such as are supposed to come from the heart, 
have thus far been discovered. Still aggressive, still 
dignified and beautiful, my admiration for her in- 
creases, and yet no proof of existing affinities 
between us save those which emanate from the mind. 

Not so with Bertha, nor Virginia; both of these 
are magnetic girls; and LTrania, too, kindles the elec- 
tric spark, but in a form unlike either, though none 
the less impressive, but rather steadier and more 
absorbing. Can it be that such are the heralders 
of approaching love — the evidences of existing af- 
finities — and are they sufficiently marked to bid me 
halt? My pilgrimage has been through difficult 
passes; I have battled with discouragement; my 
marches have been long, like one seeking some 
distant Mecca, to there do homage, and receive the 
reward of his faith. If this spiritual current should 
not wane, Urania must be the shrine before which 
I am to bow. To-night may reveal the mystery. 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


227 


CHAPTER XXXII. 

To say that I had a good time last night, would 
be to express it mildly. Aunt, Virginia, Mrs. May- 
hew and Urania never appeared happier and to bet- 
ter advantage, and my sisters are completely carried 
away with the two girls. Pretty hard to find four 
distinctive individualities more completely blended 
for the occasion, and what they don’t know about 
the comedies of young men are not worthy of 
record. 

Mother said something real pretty, and what do 
you suppose it was ? and right in the presence of 
the two elder visitors : simply this: “Frank never 
draws a blank from the lottery-wheel of new friends, 
always prizes; but these last drawings are all capi- 
tal prizes, and he knows it, too. Of course, the ac- 
quisition of Virginia was not wholly an unexpected 
event; but Urania’s addition to his circle is kind of 
mystifying in its pleasurable associations. I tell 
you, going abroad was a grand hit for Frank; it 
has made him brighter, and I am quite sure both 
of these girls have made him happier.” 

Spoken in her quiet, old-fashioned way, that’s 
not a bad little speech for mother to make, and it 
carried with it the air of sincerity, too. Of course. 


228 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


like most mothers, no son is quite up to the stand- 
ard of her Frank. One thing is clearly apparent, 
that she is pleased with both Urania and Virginia, 
but a little more with the former. 

Too many last night, for a’ ghost of a show for 
me to have Urania to myself, and hence no oppor- 
tunities for any new unfoldings in regard to heart 
affinities ; but this morning’s drive through Fair- 
mount with Urania, all to myself, was the ne plus 
ultra of all other occasions. Why, the dear, little 
muse actually bewitched me. While she descanted 
on the natural beauties of the Park, the picturesque 
and romantic windings of the Schuylkill, the choice 
variety of flowers and shrubbery, her extraordinary 
modulation of voice, from the lowest to the highest 
range, and so musical and clear, made her sentences 
as metres of thought. My star was in the ascend- 
ant, sure, this morning. How time speeds when one 
is happy! 

Yes, Urania, thou seemed as if from the world of 
fairies, when our eyes met as ne'er before: thine 
reflecting mine, as in the mirrored blue of Heaven. 
Our eyes met, and thine appeared so angelic this 
morning, as if in a fluid more than even life’s 
elixir. ’Twas then I thought, how much more 
beautiful they were than those distant orbs she so 
charmingly spoke about one night at sea. The 
spell of this morning’s ride still enfolds me. Is 
this love, and only its beginning ? If so, where 


IX QUEST OF A ^VIFE 


229 



230 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


shall its ending lead me? Not a discord in all the 
notes; true, they were not many, but the words 
were full of pulse and heart. How sweetly she 
asked: “ Frank, were you ever in love ? ’’ and what 
could I say to such a leader ? Simply this : “ If I 
ever leaned that way, Urania, it must be now, for 
not a single cloud shadows my inner life. I fain 
would evolve a thought, fixed on one whose value is 
more than rubies; a whole world within herself, 
if I dared, Urania.” 

“ No harm can befall you, Frank, and I love to 
hear you speak. Thoughts are oft-times inspired, 
and if not caught while on the wing, they are lost 
forever.” 

Too cruel, that that door-bell should mar such a 
happy review of my morning’s ride ; what can it 
mean ? Letter from L^tica, saying : “ After a most 
profitable trip abroad, agreeable to promise, Miss 
Florence Winthrop and mother are home again, 
where they shall be most happy to see Mr. Wil- 
loughby, as soon as may be convenient.” 

Say what you choose about destiny, coincidence, 
or disturbing currents, there is something very pecu- 
liar how often you are ruffled by some coming of the 
unexpected. That girl and her rich widow mother 
were almost forgotten, when their presence in spirit 
breaks in upon my delightful reveries about Urania. 
I was just then calling to mind my reply to Urania. 
Am I never to be allowed to enter the precincts of 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


231 


Cupid, but some counter-spirit flutters its wings? 
If it be not the “ three little maids from school,” it’s 
some other tantalizing face, voice, form, or letter 
that rufiles one’s sea, just as one is falling in love 
with the beautiful reflections. Aye ! more than 
them ; a real facsimile of the grace and beauty I 
once saw, as in a dream, reclining on a purple cloud. 
Urania must be the one ; for her hair is tinged 
with gold, and her face illumined, as by Heavenly 
light.” That dream in London foretold her coming. 

To-night I am booked for Daisy Roseberry, and 
one’s word is one’s honor. It looks as if matters 
were settling down rapidly, still it will keep my 
blood in healthy circulation to keep moving. Miss 
Roseberry is far above par in both looks and wealth, 
and I can count on an agreeable evening there. 
Motion is life. Onward ! is the watchword of crea- 
tion, from the spring on the mountain-top to the 
rivulet, river and sea. Onward ! is the voice of 
civilization, as she clears tlie forest, and swings the 
cradle around the golden grain. Onward! ploughs 
the iron steamship through the breakers, signalizing 
advancing thought, industry and invention in this 
age of iron and steel. And who knows how far or 
how rapidly onward Daisy may lead me in the 
greatvolume ofnatural sciences, through some widely 
different order of emotional or mind phenomena? 

Some girls would call me unstable, not deserving 
of good luck, because I throw out my hook and 


232 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


bait ill so many currents. They would have me 
fish always in the same spot, and in the same river 
or sea. You are wrong, dear girls. Accord me the 
same liberty you take yourselves. Who ever knew 
a real “ wide-awake girl,’’ that didn’t have more 
than a score of beaux ? and she didn’t catch them 
all in the same lake either. To make a good pick, 
she’ll have the tall, the short, the fat, the lean, the 
blonde, the brunette, and the Lord only knows how 
many other kinds, shapes, degrees and tempera- 
ments, to smile their prettiest, and do the honors. 
Start up the music, girls ! it’s all right. Choose 
wisely, and be happy. 



IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


233 


CHAPTEE XXXIII. 

There are supreme moments in one’s life, times 
when influences are created that make their impress 
on one’s history so prominently, that they form sen- 
tinels on the walls of one’s own kingdom. If we 
are to accept Biblical history, flaming swords were 
placed over the gates of the garden of Eden to 
forbid trespassing after the expulsion of those who 
broke the law. If I consider this merely as figura- 
tive language, illustrating that penalties are inevita- 
ble sequences to those who violate the moral code, 
the lesson taught is none the less truthful and im- 
pressive. 

Urania appears to be my guardian angei since 
our last meeting, and while I have broken no pledge 
of fidelity to her, I felt as if under the ban of con- 
demnation while receiving such marked considera- 
tion from Daisy Eoseberry last evening. Though 
my call on her did not embrace any other idea 
than such as would be natural to a young man not 
yet betrothed, and whose quest was new affinities, 
with the hope of ultimate happiness with some one; 
still her spirit seemed to hover near me like one of 
those amazonian soldiers, who were ever ready to 
defend and protect their liege lords. Just why 
16 


234 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


such influences should have dominated while in 
Daisy’s company, is a puzzle to me. The rare 
accomplishments she displayed during the evening 
should have banished thought of all others, and 
perhaps they did so far as my own volition went. 
One never knows a girl till he sees and hears her, 
and to know Daisy Roseberry is to admire her. 
Though her manner is of the easy and quiet sort, 
there is such a directness to her speech that one is 
possessed of her thoughts in a crystallized form as 
soon as spoken. And another thing won my re- 
gard, and that was the steady and honest expression 
of those large and beautiful black eyes of hers. I 
would suppress the truth did I not admit that she 
made me feel that she was deserving of a worthy 
knight. Some women become renowned on account 
of their beauty of face, form, or mind. I should 
say that Daisy would make an impression anywhere 
by reason of her possession of all three of these. 

One person almost captivates with the style of 
making a bow, another wins you by the sweetness 
of a smile, a third will accelerate the heart-currents 
in simply shaking your hand. This last act was the 
striking one in Daisy’s greeting, and I could not, 
after that, but think that she was a warm-hearted 
girl. Apart from the influences before referred to, 
the hour in her company was both agreeable and 
instructive, and gave evidences that v^e possessed 
striking similars in both our mental and emotional 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


235 


organisms, and as I bade her good-night, I felt that 
I had added not only to my circle of girls, but 
gained knowledge that would assist in solving the 
problem most at heart — the selection of a wife. 



IN COMPANY WITH DAISY ROSEBERRY. 


Ancient ^^l^ilosophy is replete with plausible 
arguments regarding natural phenomena, but it is 
somewhat questionable whether my premises and 
conclusions regarding certain subtle forces (so 


236 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


apparent to me) while in the society of this last 
link in my chain of intelligent spirits, will be as 
satisfactory to the reader of these reveries. My 
call was but another question, in the form of ex- 
perience, addressed to nature, and if I am to be my 
own interpreter (and this seems inevitable) of in- 
tellectual and emotional life, last evening I can 
safely regard as a profitable one. Knowledge of 
another life in Daisy Koseberry, is just so much 
more valuable experience, and I, in formulating and 
disseminating this experience in these jottings, am 
assuming the office of a priest of a higher order of 
a two-fold existence. Facts in nature I am forced 
to accept as an expression of Divine will, for we 
cannot, in tracing effect back to cause, rationally 
reach any other conclusion, than that all attractive 
forces, whether they be magnetism, electricity, or 
affinities between hearts and minds, emanate from 
the mind of God. 

The unaccountable of this visit still engages my 
attention. I hope, however, that I may be as success- 
ful in reconciling these disturbing influences as the 
astronomer Le Verrier was in regard to the pertur- 
bations of the planet Uranus, on the supposition of 
influences of another new planet, revolving some- 
where sufficiently near to make noticeable a devia- 
tion in its orbit. An isolated fact may have no 
scientific value, but with the group at my command 
I am being safely guided to the causes of those 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


237 


duplex influences. One of these it is well for me 
to recognize at once, namely, that some of the prin- 
ciples of love are clearly visible between Urania 
and myself, and that nature involuntarily renounced 
my wanderings for another spirit while hers hovered 
so near my own — I had not taken cognizance of 
what physical philosophy and chemistry teach : 
the invisible constitution of my own organism since 
its union with other elements, and the consequent 
change into a new force and compound, in accord- 
ance with the law of affinities. 

I did not doubt that love, springing from the 
emotions only, was frequently blind, but I could 
not believe that love exalted and consecrated, such 
as is born of the imperishable elements, could long 
grope in darkness. Thanks to science, I am again 
buoyant in heart and thought, for my spirit is again 
with Urania. 



238 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Every day makes its own history, and had I 
preserved a record of all the thoughts, words, and 
deeds within my own radius since I saw Daisy 
Roseberry, it would make many chapters and cover 
fifteen revolutions of the earth. Yes, more than 
two weeks are gone into that past that knows no 
returning, and to-night I am alone in comfortable 
quarters at Urania’s uncle. Professor Mayhew’s in 
New Haven, and am on the eve of retiring, for it is 
now past eleven o’clock. 

Professor Mayhew and wife received our party, 
consisting of Virginia, Urania, my aunt, Mrs. 
Mayhew and myself, in a style that at once banished 
restraint and made all feel welcome. Arriving 
there late in the afternoon, we found carriages 
awaiting to escort us to the family residence, where 
a most bountiful table and beautiful exotics gave 
evidence that they appreciated our coming. New 
England’s hospitality could not have had better 
representatives than in our host and hostess. I felt 
prouder than ever of Urania on account of her 
Connecticut relatives^ 

If devotion to friends win their regard, I have 
reason to believe that my visitors hold me in higher 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


239 


esteem than when they first saw Philadelphia. 
Scarcely a place or feature of note in the city or its 
suburbs, but they have become more or less familiar 
with. Virginia was my only company on several 
occasions while making somewhat extended drives 
through Fairmount, and this fact gave me fine op- 
portunities to study her temperament and character. 
It would not do for me to tell all that either said, 
but one cannot bridle his thoughts. Virginia never 
appeared lovelier, nor more entertaining than on 
those excursions. As I studied her countenance 
and listened to her dissertations on more than a score 
of subjects, I found myself gradually getting more 
and more under influences quite at variance with 
those hitherto experienced in her society, and my 
efforts to analyze them at that time were abortive. 
Petrospectively, I now can see most of the fractions 
which form the unit of those influences, for I am 
freed from the mental excitement under which I was 
placed while in her presence. As I now view those 
fragments and parts of the wondrous power within 
the control of this worthy girl, I am more than 
ever convinced that it is no easy task to fully under- 
stand Virginia. She possesses a latent force more 
potent than I dreamed of, and this strength is largely 
of a higher intellectuality than a short acquaintance 
would discover. I now judge her capable of a zeal 
and enthusiasm in the direction of any subject which 
enlists her sympathy, favor, love or hatred, that 


240 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG JIAN 


would be so effective as to stamp her individuality 
on any one. 

There are people who make no special impres- 
sion in their come-and-go every-day life (which is 
probably their normal state), and yet there are 
circumstances, or critical periods, when these same 
persons will become aroused and give evidences of 
dormant powers that even the most credulous would 
not previously consider possible. Most of those who 
give unexpected exhibitions of such latent energies, 
appear to the world as of the plain and quiet sort. 
Their sayings and doings may pass muster, but 
nothing more. If there be anything different with 
them from the multitude around them, it may ap- 
pear in their simplicity and directness of speech, their 
reserved and unassuming manners, and plainness of 
attire. That these three characteristics are generally 
external indexes to those suppressed and sterling 
qualities which the world designates genius, I have 
ample reason to believe. As I survey the world, those 
men and women who have stanq^ed their character, 
like coin, on the age in vvhich they live, or have lived, 
I find them, with but rare exceptions, belonging to 
this class. The real heroes and heroines in history 
only loom up above the heads and shoulders of the 
multitude in sudden crises or emergencies. This 
is their marked peculiarity. This (to the world) 
abnormal condition I account for on the ground that 
only great public, private or colossal events or trials 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE 


241 


will arouse the giants of slumbering fires. Like the 
steadily augmenting power of the quiet volcanoes, 
year after year may elapse before the pent-up force 



FRANK RECEIVINO A SUGGESTION FROM URANIA’S AUNT. 


breaks through the walls of clay, rock and iron, 
but when in the fulness of time the slumbering fires 
burst forth, they become irresistibly grand in their 




242 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


illumination of earth and sky, while mountains, 
cities and people are made to tremble. 

In all great revolutions, whether in the moral, 
political, ecclesiastical, scientific or spiritual world, 
such men and women have come to the front to 
marshal and lead the hosts to victory. 

Now on the hypothesis that I, for the time being 
am in the realms of science, it may be pertinent for 
me to ask, — What empress or queen is going to lead 
me to victory over the host of conflicting forces? 
What quiet and reserved spirit shall fuse my ambi- 
tion into hers? or for whom am I to be a hero or 
prince? Shall I be the central sun of Virginia? 
or have the gods decreed that Urania shall be the 
inspiration to all my orders and achievements on the 
great battle-field of life? Whoever wins the hand 
of either, will secure a loyal heart, and with it a 
mind that will become more beautiful with advan- 
cing years, if his fidelity and worth shall be proven. 
As I gauge and equate their respective qualities, I 
see much to love in both ; and I also know that 
strikingaffinities exist between these girls and myself, 
and that they are of the order and kind tnat have 
their highest fruition in the mind and spirit worlds. 
Both are in accord with me also as to liberality of 
religious thought, and this I deem indispensable to 
happiness. Virginia loves authority now, and isn’t 
it more than jirobable that this love will grow ? I 
admire courageous women, but I cannot say that my 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE 


243 


composure is improved when I see a full-grown man 
dominated and wholly led by one of the gentler sex. 
There are some instances where wives can handle 
the reins better than their husbands. When I see 
these I always think that somebody made a woful 
mistake in making them pairs. If mated rightly, 
there need be but one authority, for the mind of one 
is then also that of the other. 

Urania’s gifts and accomplishments, if I read and 
interpret correctly, while equally on as high a range 
as Virginia’s, do not make any query as to her dic- 
tatorial growth, while she sways my mind as I sit 
and listen to the music of her words. I clearly see 
her thoughts are so refined and elegant, that I love 
authority that comes that way. When a fellow 
comes so near loving two girls at the same time, and 
in the same degree, it is well for him to do what I 
am doing, analyze. This may save disaster. 

Nature teaches me that not only certain elements 
are essential to a perfect union, but exact quantities 
and proportions. Water, as an emblem of purity, 
and which also is used as typifying truth and a new 
life, illustrates this thought. Oxygen and hydrogen 
are joined in perpetual wedlock only, when eight 
parts of the former and one part of the latter em- 
brace each other. From two imponderable and 
invisible elements they now become an unit, visible, 
tangible, and an elixir of life. Here I see compati- 
bility, affinity, and quantity, and I find the same 


244 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


marriage law (only modified to suit new compounds) 
throughout the kingdoms. Taking my cue from 
this teaching, am I not logical and consistent in con- 
cluding that I shall be equally successful in forming 
from the chemistry of so many lives an indissoluble 
union ? With this hope, I tranquilly close my eye- 
lids for refreshing sleep and new revelations. 



IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


245 


CHAPTER XXXV. 

An astrologer once told me this : “At your birth 
your planet was in its worst position, so you need 
not be afraid, as your future will be always improv- 
ing ; but nevertheless hold on to all your chances 
and opportunities, beware of false friends, be tem- 
perate and regular in your habits, and you will be 
happy. You will hear good news before many 
days, and you will have to travel a great distance, 
mainly on water.” 

This prediction, being made to me only a few 
weeks before I received the intelligence through 
aunt’s letter of uncle Melville’s death and his be- 
quest to me, has been verified to the letter in several 
respects. If “good news” could be made to in- 
clude the five thousand pounds bequest, and guar- 
dianship of Virginia, that part is literally fulfilled. 
As the reader knows, I have “ traveled a great dis- 
tance, mainly on water,” in crossing and recrossing 
the Atlantic, and notwithstanding some impedi- 
ments, I have been gradually getting “ happy ” 
with every girl that friends or circumstances have 
enabled me to add to my circle, and to that extent, 
if no more, my future from the time of meeting 
with this reader of future events, by the aspects and 


246 


REVERIES OP A YOUNG MAN 


situation of the stars, has surely been “ improving.’^ 
This much of events since then I know, and for- 
tunate, indeed, if “ always improving ” shall be the 
sequence of my future. And I can’t say that I 
have no faith in astrology, for to do so would be 
counter to many of my previous conceptions while 
in the arena of astronomy. Both are ancient 
sciences, but if I am not astray, astrology became 
the parent of astronomy during the middle ages of 
the world, the same as alchemy did of chemistry at 
a later date. We are told that astrology was 
divided into two kinds ; judicial astrology, which 
pretended to foretell the fate and acts of nations and 
individuals, and natural astrology, which predicted 
events of inanimate nature, such as weather changes, 
etc. 

Now, as little weight as the world may attach to 
this science, I regard it more plausible in its general 
outlines and theory than much which receives favor 
and credence in metaphysics. If physics, as Aris- 
totle advised, should be the first in the order of 
studies, and the science of mind the second, it is 
not difficult to designate the order that astrology 
should occupy. I find no more pleasing subject to 
keep in view, and shall continue my attachment 
to it if all the encouraging foretellings of my 
astrologer shall come to pass. 

All knowledge is by association, and it is more 
than probable that Urania has had much to do 


IN QUEST OP A AVIFE, 


247 


with my line of thought this morning, for my 
dreams last night were all about her and the planets 
she so graphically described while on the sea. It 



SOMEWHAT PERPLEXED. — “ 1 WONDER IF SHE’LL PROBE MY MOTIVE?” 


wouldn’t astonish me much if she was quite an 
astrologist. An idea. How would it do to have 


2-18 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


her prophesy my future ? and I’ll have a chance to 
be with her alone this afternoon, for we are booked, 
by mutual consent, for a drive to East and West 
Rock. I wonder if she’ll probe my motive ? What 
if she should ? It will be one way of reading mind 
and heart, and that’s what I am after. If between 
her sentences, I can read of love to me-ward, I shall 
be rewarded for the experiment. She has such an 
easy and happy faculty of transferring thought; 
might it not be, that some of her words may give 
me more hope, if science has decreed her to be my 
affinity ? As for myself, most of my pulsations re- 
cently are Urania-ward. The more my thoughts 
dwell upon her the more queenly she appears. To 
know how I grow in her citadel is an important 
question just now. This afternoon may make me 
wiser and also happier. ’Till then my mind must 
receive relief in the attractions of this city, described 
by geographers as the most beautiful in America, 
and judging from what I have already seen, they 
have much to confirm the statement. 

The salubrity of atmosphere, handsome squares 
of velvety-covered green, pleasant drives, bay and 
harbor scenery, imposing churches, seminaries, col- 
leges, and classical associations are such as to soon 
impress favorably the visitor. Being the seat of 
Yale College, a cultivated and refined taste seems 
general among the people. While here I involun- 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


249 


tarily think of scholars and books, and the blessings 
of beautiful homes and happy lives. 

This last thought awakens livelier yearnings for 
an early winning of a darling, to make more beau- 
tiful and attractive my own home, in the city of 
Friends. 



17 


250 


EEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER XXXVI. 

Well may I feel composed, and have my feat- 
ures wreathed in smiles that betoken a happy heart, 
for this afternoon has been an unusual and eventful 
one. 

Urania and I had a gorgeous time. Bless her 
dear heart, I now begin to realize how much wiser 
I am than I was this morning. That idea of testing 
her views on astrology was superlatively superb. I 
could go through the whole Rosary, and deem it a 
light task, if that was the only consideration imposed 
for the prospects I gained this day. 

Talk about mind-readers! Urania is the high 
priestess of them all, and she is way up, too, in 
both astrology and necromancy. After I had given 
her the year, month, day and hour of my birth, she 
seemed, for a time, as if lost in the abstruse sciences. 
Urania and I both were in reveries then, and no 
mistake ; but I think mine were more indefinite, 
and, I am sure, less mixed with metaphysics than 
hers. Mine were such as come from an all-absorb- 
ing curiosity to know my destiny, as she might 
portray it by the aid of the planets and her wonder- 
ful intuition. This anxiety was such as alternates 
between hope on one side and fear on the other, a 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


251 


condition of painful suspense, such as occurred so 
frequently during our Civil War, when we knew 
that the two opposing forces were in deadly conflict. 
How many times the nation held its breath while 
waiting tidings from the battle-field, history will 
never fully reveal. More intense, still, if that be 
possible, was the strain on the heart-strings of those 
whose loved ones were participants in the combat. 
While I did not consider the proclamation of Ura- 
nia, be it what it might, would result in tragedy, 
still it might be possible to leave me in a condition 
bordering near a terrible disaster. Or her decree 
could infuse new vigor to mind and heart, and make 
the prospective world all sunshine. This would be 
hailed by me as a victory, and such a one as would 
show the winning of a star among the possibilities 
of my near future. If not promoted, like the suc- 
cessful general on the field, I could reasonably ex- 
pect to receive that reward that accompanies tri- 
umph. These are some of my cogitations concerning 
Urania, while she was sort of soliloquizing in an un- 
dertone, preparatory to the following announcement : 

“ Frank, as I read the movable stars, or those 
belonging to the family of our solar system, at the 
time of your birth, Jupiter was the ruling planet, 
but was in such conjunction with Mars as to indi- 
cate severewrestlings, and conflict with both the ex- 
ternal and internal worlds, during the first quarter 
of your life, or till about the age of twenty. At 


252 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


your nativity, the influence of Uranus, with her two 
satellites, was so marked as to indicate a revolution 
in your condition near the close of the third decade 
from that event, on or about which period there will 
be evolved decided evidences of approaching harmo- 
nies and felicity ; and the signs, as they are unfolded 
to me, point to the eleventh day before the ides of 
December, in the present year, as the one that will 
witness your union with a spirit that presages un- 
speakable happiness. Your guiding planet now is 
one of good fortune. It is, as Prior tells us: 

‘ A propitious star, whose sacred power 
Presided o’er the monarch’s nntal hour.’ ” 

As Urania spoke these words, they came to me 
as a revelation, as a oneness of affinities between her 
being and mine, and they made such a deep impres- 
sion on my mind that I was involuntarily prompted 
to exclaim : “ This is marvellous ! ” and to ask : 
“ How came you possessed, Urania, of such wondrous 
gifts or powers of reading the past, and foretelling 
the future ? What you have told concerning the 
by-gone and present years, are all literally true ; 
that which is to come, must surely then occur, and 
yet I feel unworthy of such a crowning. I need 
greater moral and spiritual exaltations ere I am able 
to wear such royal heritage.” To this she replied : 
‘‘My dear Frank, you speak well and wisely, for 
your thought shows both humility and simplicity. 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


253 


These the gods approve, and for this reason the 
honor conferred rightfully is yours. A heart and 
mind, dedicated to such a mission as yours have been, 
could not fail an imperishable award. May the 



AN EVENTFUL AFTERNOON WITH UBANIA. 


one whose affinities are thine and thine hers, be as 
worthy as thou ! Thou need’st not wonder at what 
in me seem gifts to thee. I deserve no meed of 
praise, for these powers came by inheritance and 


254 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


transmission from other minds. Listen, and I will 
tell thee all. I inherited from my grandfather, who 
was eminent in astronomy and astrology, my love 
of the starry realms, and for that reason I was named 
Urania (which implies heavenly), after an astro- 
nomical muse. The influence on this goddess by 
the planet Uranus is unceasing, and, by affinity, my 
mind has received its illumination therefrom. 
Through this medium, and by the aid of other stars, 
your whole life to me became visible. The one that 
Heaven has decreed to be thine, if thou only know- 
est, is near thee now. Could a clear and rippless 
lake be placed before us, I could show her to thee, 
mirrored there, this day.’’ 

With this poem of prose, these words as from 
the lips of an angel, what could I think, say or 
do ? Startle not, patient reader, — then and there — 
we saw and knew that love was mutual, and ’twas 
sealed with a holy kiss. Our eyes had met before, 
but only now their flame was more beautiful than 
the glittering gems that guide the shepherd, and 
cheer the storm-tossed mariner on the sea. There 
are times when words are inadequate to the occa- 
sion. This was one of them. I only call to mind 
these : “ Thou art an angel, Urania ; come, let me 
enfold thee, and call thee mine ; look ! speak ! and 
let me kiss thee, darling.” And to this her response 
was a look, a kiss, and these words : “ My darling 
Frank, thou already knowest I love thee ; like Ruth, 


IN QUEST OF A AVIFE. 


255 


I can truly say : ‘ Whither thou goest, I will go ; 
and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people 
shall be my people, and thy God, my God. Where 
thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried. ’ ” 
Isn’t it strange, how the sciences have revealed 
love between two minds, and carried two hearts to 
the very portals of Paradise ? 



256 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER XXXVII. 

Another sunrise finds me still in the “ City of 
Elms.” Urania’s uncle and aunt have won our 
gratitude by the many agreeable surprises they have 
given us, and we feel that our visit will long be re- 
membered as one of the pleasant events in our his- 
tory. Aunt and Virginia are actually in love with the 
professor and his whole-hearted partner, and well 
they may be, for all have been royally entertained. 

What a train of circumstances have succeeded 
Bertha Clarke’s acquaintance on the “ White 
Star,” and that invitation to visit Paris? ’Till 
then I never knew the Mayhews, and only, as 
by a dream, was foretold that there existed in 
the whole world such a creature as my darling, 
blue-eyed Urania. Even then I took a rosy view 
of life, for my convictions were strong, that there 
was somewhere on this planet a being whose whole 
organism was in complete harmony with my own, 
and that science, and science only, could demonstrate 
that fact, and reveal in all its fulness and beautv 
such a spirit. Thus from the mechanism of the old 
family clock, I have explored and investigated 
things tangible and intangible, in search of truth as 
communicated to man in and through the natural 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


257 


temples of science. From the affinities in the min- 
eral and vegetable kingdom, my faith was strength- 
ened, and I hopefully pressed onward into the 
higher spheres, the mind and spirit worlds. One’s 
foresight increases, grasp of thought is enlarged, 
vision becomes broader, and faith stronger, as the 
mind becomes illumined with new discoveries and 
absorbs more of the God-essence in natural and 
mental sciences. This gathered strength is the 
student’s glory. ’Tis this that spurs him onward 
through summer’s heat and winter’s cold. If love 
of mammon was the chief incentive, the world would 
still be in greater tlian Egyptian darkness. This 
glory ever beckoned me onward. Every charming 
girl, added to my circle, was by me considered a 
trophy ; for by her came light, life, and another 
unfolding of science. Clara, Ada, Bertha, Florence, 
Josie, Virginia, Gertrude, Daisy, each, in her order, 
became an aid to the better unfolding and under- 
standing of those principles that finally led me to 
that supreme spirit, that lovely and bewitching 
Urania. Not married yet. That’s only ceremonial ; 
I am mated, and that thought is an ever-living joy. 
Our union is already approved in Heaven ; Urania 
says it shall be formally witnessed here on the 
eleventh day before the ides of December, and that 
is the second. It is now September first, and the 
whole round of sanction is next in order. Urania’s 
mother is solid, and I’ll have her benediction. A 


258 


KEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


letter from Mr. Mayliew that came yesterday, shows 
every Philadelphia attention has made the desired 
impression on the old gentleman in Paris, and I am 
sure no opposition will come from that quarter ; in 
lact, I am vain enough to think it more than prob- 
able that a valuable consideration will accompany 
his “ God speed ” to her, whom he delighted to call 
his “ little treasure.” How will it be on my side of 
the house? I havn’t thrown out any feelers there. 
I know, however, that Urania and Virginia both 
chimed splendidly with my sisters, and I rather 
think mother was taken with Urania. I know my 
father will say : “ Go and be ha])py, my boy,” for 
his spirit is in harmony with mine. Taking a gen- 
eral survey, I see no oj^position above the horizon 
now. 1 shall communicate with Mr. May hew by 
the first steamer, and Urania and mother will write 
by the same mail. Three letters on the same sub- 
ject will paralyze the old gentleman. It is proposed 
to have the marriage ceremony at Professor May- 
hew’s residence. This is Urania’s suggestion, and, 
of course, as she is to be the queen on that occasion, 
it’s all left to that little muse. So much on this 
theme now. Much devolves upon me between now 
and then, pertaining to other matters that are waiting 
my return home, and should no obstacle arise, to- 
morrow’s train will bear, aunt, Virginia and myself 
homeward. 

The thought of separating from Urania presages 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE, 


259 


symptoms of a chill, but I must be heroic, for busi- 
ness is business you know. How long a parting 
love-kiss will last, I bavn’t an idea. This will be 


THE THREE LETTERS, I GUESS, WILL PARALYZE THE OLD GENTLEMAN. 



my first experience. It should bold two weeks when 
mountains and rivers separate, and one hundred and 
seventy-five miles intervene. I’ll know better after 


260 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


I have made the trial. Experience is the only 
solution to such a query. 

(Jn the fifteenth of this month my precious charge 
will enter Yassar College, and all arrangements re- 
garding tuition, board, room, etc., must be perfected 
soon as I return home and adjust matters there in 
connection with my business. Then, there will be 
much to do to make more inviting my own home. 
1 know one often hears the remark, “ I have got a 
cage to put my bird in.” This is not my thought. 
I want my little Urania to be possessed of a liberty 
as unrestrained as the birds of the air. I want her 
home to be as free as that of the warblers, for she is 
to be my songstress, my entrancing little nightingale. 
Yes, I will make her heart happy when she sees the 
home I have provided for her. There, Urania’s 
presence shall be more than a sunbeam. Then I’ll 
have more pleasurable occupation for leisure hours, 
than watching the queenly spider construct its 
silken web, as was my wont before -I crossed the 
sea. 



IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


2G1 


CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

More than a month has elapsed since our party 
returned home from Connecticut, and Virginia is 
now a student in “ Vassar,” and fairly familiar 
with her new life. Aunt seems delighted with the 
institution, and is continually talking about its 
charming situation and the lovely home she will 
have there. I have certainly felt flattered at the 
many pretty things she has said about my choice of 
place for her adopted daughter. We spent one 
night there, and as she is quite an attractive widow, 
it is not wholly improbable that she made an im- 
pression on Professor who was exceedingly 

attentive during our stay. At any rate, she prom- 
ised Virginia that she would make her a visit about 
the middle of December. 

I made my promised trip to my good old Quaker 
friends in Chester Valley last week, and feel well 
compensated. The old country mansion is com- 
posed of stone, and is a remarkable structure. It’s 
peculiar situation is worthy of notice. Built on an 
incline where two slopes, at almost right angles 
meet, ingress and egress is obtained from, or to the 
ground, while occupying a position on a level with 
any one of the three floors. This odd feature gives 


262 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


evidence of rare mechanical ability in its erection. 
The barn is also distinguished by the same pecu- 
liarity. The farm is one of the finest in Penn- 
sylvania, and is under splendid cultivation. Not 
the least valuable addition to this quaint homestead, 
is the oddly-fashioned stone spring-house some forty 
yards south of the residence. No better proof 
could be furnished of foresight, industry and fru- 
gality than this farm presents. My friends told 
me that the homestead has been in the Atglen 
family since the time of the original grant from 
William Penn, and they spoke of this fact with 
pride. The property certainly could not have been 
committed to better hands. That life of simplicity 
so characteristic of Friends, made my stay with 
these people one of unalloyed satisfaction, and real 
rest from the turmoil of the city. I feel quite in 
love with the good lady of the house. While I 
have been the recipient of many favors elsewhere, 
I w’as never under a roof where hospitality was 
more substantial, and I hope it will be my good 
fortune to repeat the visit another year. I will not 
essay to describe in detail the quiet beauty of this 
rural home. The outlook to the south from the 
long piazza, takes in meadow, running brook, hill 
and woodland. While strolling through the latter, 
the variegated tints of autumn leaves awakened 
thoughts of passed events and coming realities. 
Nature is never more beautiful nor fuller of sugges- 


THE OLD HOMESTEAD OF MY QUAKER FRIENDS. 


IN QUEST OP A WIFE 


263 











264 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


tiveness than in the Fall. ’Tis then she is full of 
instruction and wonderfully impressive. On the 
golden-tinted garments of tree, shrub and vine, are 
written infallible teachings and sublime truths. In 
them we see the elements of science, the models for 
art, the emblem of mortality, the hope of resurrec- 
tion, the intelligence of the Omniscient. The seed 
only dies to gain a new life ; the leaf only sings as 
fanned by the breath of Deity, and drops from its 
parent stem to assume other forms, to dissolve, and 
become restored to its original elements. Matter is 
not annihilated nor space destroyed. In what form 
these leaves will reappear in the course of another 
revolution, is known only to Him who controls the 
planets and regulates the seasons. This lesson, 
however, is not a mystery. These crimson and 
gorgeously colored emblems admonish us of chilly 
winds, and the work of fairy frosts ; they turn our 
minds from the outdoor to the indoor world ; from 
the seaside and lake, the forest and dell, to the 
bright fire and happy circle of friends and kindred 
at home. 

This change of season creeps on one so silently, 
that ere we know it, the echoes of departure are 
heard along the line. Yes, Time’s dial saddens 
memory and brightens hope everywhere. Between 
nature and myself there has always been a sort of 
inspirational communion. We have clasped hands 


IN QUEST OP A WIFE. 


265 


many times in thought and heart, while the world 
at large was moving on heedless as the river toward 
the sea. To her vast storehouse I have been a fre- 
quent visitor years before this rustic ramble. There, 
I have gained knowledge to lighten up my pathway 
and cheer me in my search for a better understand- 
ing of those laws of aflSnity through which I hoped, 
and not in vain, to secure a mate. From atom to 
atom, from unit to principle, from principle to 
cause, step by step, did nature beckon me onward 
and upward until the consummation. That glory, 
was the finding, the wooing, and the winning of 
my “ diamond bird,” my golden-haired Urania. 

We are told that sometimes this bird’s abiding 
place and home is among the snowy pinnacles of 
ice-bound Russia. There they call it the bird of 
Paradise, and regard it as a messenger from the 
celestial realms. It is said to be born of the amber 
tinted cloudlets of a ruby morn, and of the sea-foam, 
and that it is lain in the heart of the glowing lotus 
flower, down deep within the solemn glooms of an 
eastern forest. And there it lies from moon till 
moon, absorbing into itself the perfume of that 
flower-heart safe within its velvet nest ; while over- 
head, the azure dome glows and wanes, now sapphire, 
crimson, violet, then intensest blue, gemmed every- 
where with worlds. The bulbul singing love-songs 
to the rose and lily is the harshest sound it hears ; 


18 


266 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


until the full time having come, it soars aloft, seek- 
ing the duty for which it had its being. 

As Urania now wears the engagement ring, may 
her life be as* purely beautiful as this warbler, and 
. she prove a guardian and proof of mutual fidelity, 
of sacred vows and 2)erenuial love. 



IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


267 


CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Truditur dies die: “One day is pressed on- 
ward by another,” and yet no one repeats the story 
of its predecessor, except in its measurement of 
hours, minutes and seconds. Each is a life within 
itself, with birth, growth, development and history. 
If time be a lever equal in length to one’s days, 
and experience and knowledge form the power, and 
the natal hour the fulcrum point, I should be able 
more easily to overcome the weight of embarrass- 
ment surrounding my approaching marriage, than 
when my only girl was Clara Livingstone. While 
I hail the advent of each day with increased delight 
as drawing me nearer to ecstatic joys, the ceremonial 
order, being my first, will be so novel in my own 
experience, that I hardly know how I will pass the 
ordeal. Urania is generally so serene, that I guess 
she’ll sail through it without a ruffle. This day, 
Tuesday, the twenty-fifth of November, she is just 
five and twenty, and in one week more, my birthday 
too, will come. How strange the coincidence, that 
I am to be wedded on the second of December, my 
twenty-ninth birthday ? As the signs in the 
heavens predict coming events, is it not possible that 
this dual event may have a meaning, and that Ura- 


268 


EEVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


nia knew it when she so charmingly read the 
prophecy ? The coincidence at least is a happy and 
convenient one, as it will enable Urania and I to 
annually celebrate the two-fold event at thesametime. 
It is surprising what an influence the apparent 
small things of life exert on one’s mind. A single 
word or circumstance in the morning may put one’s 
heart in pleasant vibrations with the world for the 
rest of the day, or it may make discordant, cheerless 
and long, each passing hour. Sister Mamie’s simple 
words: “Brother Frank, you have chosen wisely, 
for Urania is a lovely girl.” This spoken at the 
breakfast-table, in presence of her sister and ma- 
ternal guide, was reflected, as a warm ray of 
sunlight, from one to another. In an instant I saw 
that the verdict of all at home was “ well done,” and 
this recognition has bordered, as with a fringe of 
gold, that home circle since. Some call these little 
things trifles. Perhaps they are ; but none the less, 
trifles rule the world. 

Under dominion of the evil spirit, the reckless 
designate love a trifle, and yet He who embodies 
and diffuses it through every blossom, zepyhr, and 
melody is the true source of all power and govern- 
ment. Love has been the inspiring song of all ages. 
It is love that decks the graves of the departed, in 
the cities of the silent dead ; it is love that gave to 
the world a Florence Nightingale and the Sisters of 
Charity ; it is love that visits the afflicted and dis- 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE 


269 









270 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


penses gifts to the needy. Show me a people where 
love is the ruling queen, and I’ll show you culture, 
refinement, virtue and happiness. I can now speak 
by authority, for am I not in love ? 

That bell means the letter-carrier ; sure enough, and 
he brings the long-expected message from my,pros- 
pective father-in-law, Mr. Mayhew. I wonder what 
he says — I read — “ My dear Mr. AVilloughby ” (that’s 
a good starter), “While Urania is our only daughter, 
the idol of her mother, the joy, treasure and sun- 
shine of her father and our home, the companion 
and guide of her brother, Eugene, I would not wish 
to thwart her hopes, nor darken yours. Your, 
Urania’s and her mother’s letters all reached me by 
the same steamer, and while they startled me by their 
denouement, I have carefully noted all, and given 
the subject that thoughtful and anxious considera- 
tion it would naturally evoke. The testimonials of 
your worth are but a confirmation of the impression 
you made while in Paris. If you and my daughter 
have found in each that love which perisheth not, 
my blessing will go with and ever abide in you. I 
shall be a witness to the nuptials, and will leave by 
the steamer ‘ City of Brussels ’ on the eighteenth 
of November. Eugene unites in kind and loving 
greetings to all.” 

How grandly the dear old man talks. Parting 
with Urania is a severe strain on the nerves of the 
good, kind-hearted father. He feels that her ab- 


IX QUEST OF A WIFE. 


271 


sence will make a void that cannot be filled. Like 
the twilight that one sees reluctantly withdrawn on 
a summer’s eve, that noble-hearted sire notes more 
than the departing sunbeams. He will miss that 
radiant face, those large love-lit eyes, and that voice 
of song. Bless his dear soul ; his gift is more to me 
than all the treasures of India, and I shall make 
him feel and know that his loss shall be Urania’s 
present and eternal gain. 



272 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


CHAPTER XL. 


My mind is not shrouded, this winter’s eve, with 
doubts such as enfolded Addison’s when he wrote : 


“ The ways of Heaven are dark and intricate, 
Puzzled with mazes, and perplexed with error ; 
Our understanding searches them in vain.” 


Urania’s presence and supreme happiness in her new 
home, as wife, sweeten each passing hour, and make 
our habitation an Eden. In the language of Massey : 

“ We are happy as the bird, whose nest 
Is heavened in the hush of purpled hills.” 


To US, as bride and groom, come congratulations 
from those, both absent and present at the wedding 
ceremonies and feast. Urania’s uncle and aunt 
fashioned the occasion of our union so as to consti- 
tute it an event impressively beautiful. Flowers, 
music and choicest viands made joyful the assembled 
guests. And to those attractions, were many rare 
and unique presents from relatives and friends. 

To-night, in that home, called by Urania, when 
she first saw it, “just too lovely,” we hold reception. 
How odd the card looks : 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE. 


273 


Mr. and Mrs. Francis 3Iarion Willoughby. 

At Home. 

Wednesoay, i3th' December. 

From 8 /o ] 1 P.M. 

^ 0 . North Broad St. Philadelphia. 


All day, the arrival of packages, containing tan- 
gible expressions of good-will, have kept Urania 
and sister Mamie, her aid, quite busy ; and I, too, 
have been curious and willing to assist in the most 
agreeable task of arranging the gifts. New Haven 
did nobly in this line, but I must confess that the 
Quaker City’s souvenirs are really beautiful. 

Urania’s heart bounded with joy, when she saw 
an elegant equipage, drawn by a handsome span of 
cream-colored horses, at the door, a gift from her 
father, who came with it in person, in company with 
Mrs. Mayhew. If ever the dear old man received 
a real love-kiss, it was then from Urania. Her hap- 
j)iness was augmented, later, by a letter from the 
same source, full of a father’s love and counsel, and 
a bequest of $10,000 in U. S. percent, interest- 
bearing bonds, and naming an additional gift of 
5000 francs as an annuity. 

That is glorious ! Bless his soul ! No wonder, 
Urania’s love is genuine. There is no sham about 
that stock ; it’s the simon pure. What a grand 
time we’ll have ! Nothing intricate or puzzling 
about such a heaven as is in store for us, even on 
this lower ])lane. 


274 


REVERIES OF A YOUNG MAN 


And my investigation of science led to all this. 
Bertha shall ever be remembered among the con- 
stellation of affinities. Without her I never would 



FRANK AND TJRANIA’S RECEPTION. 


have known the Mayhews ; and, not to have known 
them, I never would have met Urania; and, with- 
out Urania, her whole-hearted father would never 
have become my father-in-law. Bertha was a trump 


IN QUEST OF A WIFE, 


275 


card, and the highest at that; and, if reports be 
true, she’ll be in our family yet. The signs strongly 
point to Eugene Mayhew and Bertha Clarke as the 
next love-match. 1 was jealous once of Eugene, 
but that feeling was buried with Urania’s resurrec- 
tion and disclosures to me. Extra-bright girl, how- 
ever, is that Bertha. Eugene would , win a prize. 
Success attend him. 

How one wanders from reception to Paris, by 
following the chain of memory ! Already the com- 
pany is assembling, for it is now eight o’clock, and 
I had almost failed to realize that Frank and Ura- 
nia are to be the host and hostess for the evening, 
and till later my jottings and soliloquizings must 
cease. 

It is now 10.30, and what a charming company 
is present. They came in twos and fours until 
thirty couple enliven my usually quiet home. And 
this isUrania’s first opportunity to become acquainted 
with many of my Quaker friends. Music and danc- 
ing make merry the swiftly passing moments, while 
Urania and Frank have reached a still higher degree 
of felicity in their first month of married life. The 
world that arches their lives now is replete with 
increasing beauties; the air is laden with the ex- 
halations of roses ; the wave-currents bear to them 
the sweet vibrations of voice and harp. 

Science has made its conquest. Love through 
the affinities is evolved, and Urania and Frank are 
the spirits made happy by its unfolding. 



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